THE MAN OF KERIOTH 



ROBERT NORWOOD 




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THE MAN OF KERIOTH 



ROBERT NORWOOD 



THE 

MAN OF KERIOTH 



BY 

ROBERT NORWOOD 

AUTHOR OF "the MODERNISTS," "THE PIPER AND 

THE^ REED," "THE WITCH OF ENDOR," 

ETC. 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
ROBERT JOHNSTON, D. C. L. 




NEW HEJ^ YORK 
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 



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COPYRIGHT, 1919, 
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 



PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



MAR 29 1919 \ \^ 

©CI.A515U74 






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TO 

MY FATHER AND MY MOTHER 

FROM WHOM I FIRST HEARD 

THE STORY OF THE CARPENTER 



What laughter was within your eyes 
That saw as God must see ; 

And by that laughter make us wise, 
Dear Man of Galilee. 



INTRODUCTION 

Poetry is the highest vehicle of spiritual truth. 
Ideas depend greatly on the form used to ex- 
press them. Spiritual truth is 
Poetry and neither local nor temporary ; it is 
Truth universal and eternal; it is bind- 

ing on earth and in heaven. Crys- 
tallised forms of logical thought, enclosed in theo- 
logical terms which, in turn, are dependent on 
prevailing philosophical conceptions, hinder spiri- 
tual truth on its march down the qges. Much 
harm has been done to religion by the unnatural 
marriage between the poetry of Jesus and the 
logic of the schoolmen. To bind the spiritual, 
which is permanent, to a form which is passing, 
is to impede truth. 

The Christian religion is embarrassed today 
because of the alleged indissolubility of the union 
betwixt the Faith and the Phi- 
Poetry and losophy of the Nicene Age. It has 
Religion even been obscured by its blood 

relationship to Judaism. When 
the poet deals with religious truth, it travels on 
wings ; when the philosopher unfolds it, it walks 
on crutches. The poet is elusive ; he cannot be 



X INTRODUCTION 

cabined or confined. The philosopher can always 
be found; his means of locomotion do not lend 
themselves to flight. 

The historical gospels (SS. Matthew, Mark, 
Luke) are occupied chiefly with the life of a poet- 
teacher. The spiritualised gospel 
A Poet- (S. John) gives less of history. 

Teacher but is richer in spiritual truth. In 

all the gospels, however, Jesus is 
the child of nature, dreaming on the hill-sides, 
walking by the sea, plucking the flowers, sleep- 
ing in the storm. He is poetical in the form of 
his teaching: his kingdom is as a mustard seed, 
a pearl, a net with all kinds of fishes. He' is a 
door, a loaf, a vine ; his disciples are they who 
enter by the door, eat the loaf, and become 
branches of the vine. Boldly he pushes his fig- 
ures into the region of conduct : forgive till 
seventy times the sacred number seven, turn the 
other cheek, go the second mile, give your cloak 
with the coat. When the logic-loving philosopher 
receives these sayings into the hardening pot of 
theology, he obscures the meaning, and makes the 
way of performance more difficult. But the poet- 
reader receives the words, sees the lessons, and 
does not fall back upon casuistry for light. He 
can apply the teaching to states and individuals 
alike. The rigid thinker is driven into an impasse 
in conduct by the hard sayings of Jesus, and 
frees himself by insisting on the oriental hyper- 



INTRODUCTION xi 

bole found in the words. The poet does not 
stumble at hyperbole ; it is his native tongue. So, 
recognising it as a vehicle of truth, he passes 
beyond the form, and sees the thought intended. 

It may be, therefore, that the poet's outlook 
can supply the demand of our time, for an esti- 
mate of the character of Jesus con- 
The Human sistent with our ideas of great 
Jesus manhood, and for an interpreta- 

tion of his religion, at least not 
irreconcilable with the assured findings of mod- 
ern knowledge. The Man of Kerioth is an essay 
towards this end. Jesus of the play is very man. 
The Carpenter of Nazareth, whose handicraft 
Philip admired, is presented in a picture so win- 
some, so tenderly human, that it will draw men 
to him. The Carpenter carries himself through 
the marriage scene at Cana, where wine is flow- 
ing freely, with a divinely subtle aloofness from 
its folly, with such gentleness in reproach, that 
he saves the drunken Thomas from himself. 
Jesus comes out of the scene, sublime without any 
effort, and faithful to the ideal of St. John. De- 
vout Christian sentiment is rightly suspicious of 
such adventures. The devout soul wonders at the 
scene, and understands the horror of the religion- 
ists of Jesus' time, who sought to discredit him 
by saying, "Behold, a man, gluttonous ; a wine- 
bibber, the friend of publicans and sinners." 

The same skill is shown in that scene where 



xu INTRODUCTION 

Jesus plajs with the children by the seaside. 
Matthew and Luke * have thought 
The Great it worth while to preserve an in- 
Playmate stance of such play. We are told 

that Jesus watched the street chil- 
dren playing games. When the stage was set 
for a funeral, it was easy to provide a corpse and 
mourners, but none were ready to take the part 
of the professional weepers. Then a wedding 
was attempted. A bride and groom were selected, 
musicians were appointed, but none were willing 
to dance to the piping on such a hot day. Com- 
parison of the scene in the play with the miracles 
of the Apocryphal gospels will illustrate the fidel- 
ity of the Man of Kerioth to the spirit of the 
gospel story. Apocryphal f stories of Jesus 
show him making clay birds fly ; but when the 
birds are made in this play, Jesus tells the chil- 
dren that they must make them fly. They catch 
the spirit of the great Playmate, and cry, "We 
will, we will." 

The human Jesus of the Gospel has been ob- 
scured. Our Christ has been too ghostly, and 
not of flesh and blood, as we are. 
Jesus and ^^^ ^^^^^ reason, chaplains at the 

the New front say that Christ is unknown 

Humanism to many soldiers. One Scottish 
Chaplain | has been bold to say, 

* S: Matthew, XI, 17. 

t Cf. Longfellow's GOLDEN LEGEND. 

X AS TOMMY SEES US, Arnold, London. 



INTRODUCTION xiii 

"They have never seen him; that is a fact.** It 
is not true to say that Jesus is unknown; it is 
true to say that he has been hidden away, that 
he has been misunderstood. The Spirit of the 
Christ was incarnated in the Carpenter of Nazar- 
eth that the exceeding brightness of his glory 
might appear, and be known to all men. But the 
Christ of religious circles today is little better 
than a filmy ghost, without flesh and blood. The 
heroic Jesus of the Apocalypse has eyes as coals 
of fire, feet of burnished brass, and a voice like 
the breaking of many waters. This Christ has 
been lost, and the substitute offered 
J r* * J ^^^ ^^^ been accepted. The bitter 
Glowing experience of the last four years 

God-man has convinced the most thoughtful 

that a new and broad humanism 
alone will satisfy the religious aspirations of our 
age. The inspiration of this humanism will be a 
great and glowing God-man, living a truly human 
life. 

Two influences have united to obscure the glory 
of the Christ-soul Incarnated in the Carpenter 
of Nazareth: one, the exaggeration of the super- 
natural element ; the other, the loss of sharp lines 
in the picture of the historic Jesus, in the Pauline 
quest after the Christ. One cannot doubt that 
search for the Holy Soul of Jesus was necessary 
for a complete Christology, and may have been 
rendered imperative by a cult of the Man-Jesus to 



xiv INTRODUCTION 

the exclusion of his spiritual significance to the 
universe. The fact remains that, in our cycle of 
human experience, men are more interested in 
the Christ after the flesh than in the Over-soul 
of Jesus. Paul's determination "though we have 
known Christ after the flesh, yet know we him no 
more" is one in which our age will not share. 

The oldest picture of Jesus is found m St. 
Mark's gospel ; and here the miraculous element 

is reduced to a minimum. As we 
The Oldest pass away from Jesus in point of 
Picture of time, we enter more immediately 

■'^*"* into the region of the unnatural 

and the unexpected. Jesus for- 
bade the exploitation of his cures, yet the later 
disciples emphasised the wonder element. The 
intellectual development of men, with their con- 
ceptions of the spiritual and the physical world, 
encouraged the development of wonder and 
magic in ordinary life. In our time, with dif- 
ferent ideas of the origin of the world, with the 
thought of law going forward majestically from 
cause to effect, the wonder element becomes more 
of a hindrance and less of a help. 

There are three different ways of meeting the 
problem presented by the wonder element as found 

in some miracles of the New Testa- 

rui. ixT ment. One way denies them alto- 

Three Ways -^ 

of Meeting gether: miracles do not happen; 
the Problem , they have never happened, save in 



INTRODUCTION xv 

the highly coloured Imagination of the unde- 
veloped and uninstructed mind. Miracles so re- 
garded are an obstacle to the spread and prog- 
ress of the gospel. The second way admits 
their possibility, but denies their probability. 

They stand or fall on the histori- 
Miracles cal character of the documents 

which record them. Miracles are 
neither necessary to religion nor obstacles to 
truth. The third way simply passes by, with the 
characteristic nonchalance of the Mystic, the 
real or alleged miraculous clement, and fixes the 
mind on the spiritual significance of the wonder. 

So, in the play, Blind Bartimseus 
The Mystic walks through the country lanes of 

Galilee, seeing beauty and wonder, 
splendour and glory, with the eyes of his awak- 
ened soul. He knows a cripple who is happy in 
spite of his crutches, because he has overcome 
their spiritual handicap. 

"He tvoiJis with greater joy on summer roads 
"Than they who travel on their sandalled feet." 

So also, BartinicTus has been cured of the curse 
of blindness, because he has risen superior to the 
need of eyes. Until Bartimjeus met Jesus he was 
very blind, but 

"He made me independent of two eyes, 

"And taught me how to see life through the soul." 

The noble company of the blind in the allied 



xvi INTRODUCTION 

armies will probably be the first to understand 
the worth of this point of view, 
The Noble ^^'^ *^^ value of such an interpre- 

Company of tation. Unless the Christian Sci- 
the Blind entists are right it is all that Jesus 

can do for them now. The Mystic 
does not say that the cures of the gospel are in- 
ventions ; but he does not depend on wonder-signs 
in the physical world, because he 
Christian ^^^^ ^o clearly with the eyes of the 

Science soul. The Mystic knows Jesus as 

the Friend, very close and very 
dear. It Is love that has led him captive, not won- 
der, nor power. 

The tragedy of the play lies in the soul of the 
Man of Kerioth. Other writers of imaginative 
literature have dealt with the prob- 
lem which Judas left. Modern 
The Tragedy scholars find a bias against Judas 
' ^ in the gospels. This was to be 

expected; and we must not be sur- 
prised that it deepened with time. The problem 
has increased in fascination and interest. In- 
variably a woman has been introduced into the 
story; but in making Mary of Magdala and the 
Man of Kerioth lovers the writer has broken 
new ground. The problem of Judas, however, 
has no relation to his love, nor is it related 
to his greed for gold. The sorrow of Judas 
follows too quickly on his offence to have been 



INTRODUCTION xvii 

The Demand ^^^^ tragedy of a villain. Nor can 
for a Sisn ambition be cited to explain bis 

sin. The curse of Judas is the 
curse of material religion. In his religious 
frenzy, he is blind to the real significance of 
things. He would make Jesus a ruler and di- 
vider over Israel — a role which Jesus had re- 
jected often. The lure of Judas was a demand 
for a sign. It became a fixed idea ; like the mo- 
notonous cry of the insane, the words of Judas 
ring through the play, "A sign, a sign." 

It is wicked and adulterous to ask for a sign 
as the condition of faith. Many signs follow be- 
lief, but never precede it. The 
The Price of ^^^"^ °^ *^^^ ^lappy cripple and the 
the Potter's blind minstrel were significant — 
Field but not to the Man of Kerioth. 

The eager soul of Judas was 
wrecked on the rock of the material in religion — 
dependence on the visible, on physical wonder, 
external authority, on signs of earth and heaven. 
This is the price of the Potter's Field; and the 
Church clumsily clinging to signs has travelled 
for too many ages on the way of the Man of 
Kerioth. 

Robert Johnston. 
Church of the Saviour, 
Philadelphia. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 



CHARACTERS 



" Near Bethabara. 



Judas, of Kerioth. 

Caiaphas, High Priest. 

Philip, of Bethsaida. 

Young Men, friends of Judas and Philip. 

Wine Vendor, 

Priest, 

Levite, 

Pharisee, 

Scribe, 

Bread Vendor, 

Voice of John Baptist, 

Soldier, 

Leper, 

Levi, a Publican. 

Obed, the Bridegroom of Cana. 

BARTiMiEus, a Blind Minstrel. 

The Master of the Feast, 

Rabbi, 

Elder, 

Guests, 

Revellers, 

Servants, 

Jesus, the Carpenter. 

Thomas, a Wine Bibber. 



At the Wed- 
ding Feast. 



xxii CHARACTERS 



> Fishermen of Capernaum. 



Simon, 

Andrew, 

James, 

John, 

Nathaniel, one of the Disciples. 

A Lame Man. 

Simon's Boy. 

Maby, of Magdala. 

Erinna, a Greek Maid. 

Mary, the Mother of Jesus. 

Ada, the Bride of Cana. 

Maidens. 

A Woman. 

A Little Girl. 

Children, Vendors, Men, Women, Sailors, Camel 
Drivers, Muleteers, Soldiers, Servants, Priests, 
Pharisees, Scribes. 



SCENES 

Act I 
A roof garden of Mary Magdalene's house at 
Jerusalem. 

Act II 
Near Bethabara, at the River Jordan. One 
week later. 

Act III 
The Wtdding Feast of Cana. Two weeks later. 

Act IV 

Lake Shore near Capernaum. Six months later. 

Act V 
Before the Garden of Gethsemane. Two years 
later. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 



ACT I 

Scene. — A roof garden of Mary Magdalene's 
house at Jerusalem. 

In the background a vista of the Temple 
with a tower of Pilate's palace against an 
expanse of blue shy. On the right a massive 
vine-clustered wall with an arched entrance. 
A great palm tree lifts its head over the left 
battlement of the roof. Huge jars of olean- 
der, tamarisk and fern are grouped about a 
central fountain forming a marble square; 
a deep niche in the front of the fountain is 
strewn with silken pillows of many colours. 
The garden is roofed from the glare of the 
sun by a trellis of grape-vines. 

A company of Maidens vn white robes cinc- 
tured with golden girdles enter. They dance 
to the accompaniment of harps, dulcimers 
and cymbals, movmg by graceful degrees 
down to the fountain. A Greek maid, Erinna, 
begins a song whose refrain is caught by the 
others. As the song ends, Mary appears Tenth 
Judas, Caiaphas, Philip and a number of 
young men. 

23 



M THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Erinna l^singing^ . 

Now is the time of the blossoming — 

little green buds unfold! 
Soft on the mouth with a kiss comes Spring — 

A lover is he and bold! 

Now is the time for a heart to tell — 

little white tmngs unfold! 
The word that my lady liketh well — 

What lover would not be bold? 

Caiaphas. Well sung, Erinna ! 
Philip [fo Caiaphas^. 

Better than the Levites. 
Mary \^to Caiaphas, as they move dozen to the 
fountain^ . 
Why let your bearded minstrels bawl, my 

Priest, 
When there are maidens? 
Caiaphas [leading Mary to the seat'\. 

Would you have my ephod? 
Mary [^nestling among the pillows^. 

I am not emulous of ephods. Priest. 
Philip She has no need of bells above her feet, 

Whose footfall is a raindrop on the grass. 
Mary [lightly to Philip^. 
O foohsh Philip! 

[Erinna and the maidens with the young men 
are gathered near the palm at left. Caiaphas 
stands at the right of Mary; Philip leans on 
the ledge of the fountain, at her feet; Judas 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 25 

stands behind the fountain looking out to 
the Temple. '\ 
Philip. There is place for folly. 

Judas [turning and approaching the group^. 
Ay, in Gehenna where the pit is deep, 
And where the unquenched flame is hot for 
fools ! 
Caiaphas [a hand on the right shoulder of 
Judas^. 
Well said, O thunderer! Now, Philip, now? 
Philip. You smell of altar smoke and incense 
fumes. 
And Judas is a butcher! 
Mary. Philip, peace! 

Judas [Smiling on the Philip^. 

He who kills time with laughter may not 

call 

Philip. Nay, Judas, it is I whom time would 
slay; 
For every moment is an arrow shot 
Swift from his bow, and I am pierced to heart 
By many moments — wanting Mary's mouth ! 
Mary [throwing a lotus, plucked from the foun- 
tain, at Philip^. 
O idler with fair words, take up your harp ; 
For when you make not music you are dull. 
Philip. Must I stand lonely, twanging on a harp ? 
Mary. Yea, that you must. 

Philip And what shall be my song? 

Mary. Sing me of love. 



26 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Judas. Not so, my yellow head; 

Give us a noble chant of chariots, 
Measured by liiss of arrows like the rain. 
Philip. Ho, there ! Erinna, fetch me Sappho's 

harp, 
That I may steal a moment of her soul 
And hold these Hebrews helpless with a song. 
\_Erinna leaves the group at left and yields her 

harp to Philip; his fingers stray among the 

strings until they find a mighty chord.^ 
My song shall be of hearts whom love has 

hurt — 
Of hearts that call through thundering of 

shields : 

O Love, thou art like grapes crushed for the 
wine. 
And the corn that is bruised on the floor; 
A hook through the tendrils of the young 
vine: 
Like a bolt and a bar on a door 
That will open to me nevermore! 

Thunder of shields. 
Lightning of spears. 
Rain of the arrows. 
Hail of the stones 
Hurled from the sling. 
When the foeman appears; 
Better to die 
In the valley of bones. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 27 

Than to live without love 
On the mountain of tears! 

O Love, thou art paths that are lost in the 
sand 

To the sound of a caravan bell ; 
The pallor of cheeks at the touch of a hand 

And a sigh and a kiss at the well ; 

Like a rain of wild flowers in Hell! 

Erinna [standing near^. 
Nay, PhUip ! 

Philip. What! Know you a better song? 

Erinna. That was not Sappho. 

Mary [to Erinnal. 

Out on you, dear Greek! 

Erinna. Why, Mary? 

Mary. Judith is the word. 

Caiaphas. Well said! 

Erinna. In the wild heart of Judith there was 
hate. 
In Sappho's only love ! 
[She returns to the group at left.l 
Judas. Hate for the crime 

Of Holofernes ; hate for every wrong 
Done to her people whom she held so dear, 
That she was well nigh wedded unto hate 
To set them free. 

Caiaphas. .Oh, for another Judith! 

Judas. Is she not here? 

Caiaphas. Mary? 



28 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Judas. As great of heart. 

Mary. Yea, I would measure any with my love. 
Philip \^with a pretense of marking a bearn]. 

The cord is on the beam — mark now with mine. 
Mary [rising to meet Philip^. 

My love against your love? 
Philip. Lay cord to cord 

Upon the beam. 
Mary [measuring as with a cord.'\ 

Why, Philip, here are lengths 

Of cord beyond the beam ! So is man's love 

Determined by the common length of life. 

While woman's love is measured to the stars. 
A Young Man. Now is your cord noosed tight 
about your throat, 

Philip, another twist and you are done! 
A Young Man. Mary, his time for hanging has 

not come. 
Philip [to the young menl. 

Peace, boys ! 
Young Men. O yellow head ! 
Philip. Hence to your mothers — 

Erinna, sing these babies back to home! 
Maidens [mocking Philip with the yoiung men^. 

La, la, la ! 
Philip. Erinna, sing! 

Erinna [over her shoulder^. 

Sappho's way.? 
Judas. Why waste we time to twittering of 
harps, 



THE MAxN OF KERIOTH '29 

When Roman feet tread all our people down 
Like grapes within a wine-vat? 

Philip. Laugh with us. 

Judas. Laughter and I are friends no more! 

Philip. No more — • 

And in a garden.'' 

Judas. 'Tis a place to weep ! 

Mary. Not in my garden. 

Judas. Here as in all gardens. 

Mary Iproudli/^. 

I will not have it so. 
[Returjis to the seat.^ 

Judas. While there is Rome 

There must be tears. 

Philip. But not in Mary's garden. 

Say that I speak the truth, Caiaphas. 

Caiaphas. Now by the Temple, Philip, you are 
right ; 
For here are forces that will wrest from Rome 
Her power to hurt the world. Rome ! How 

that name 
Knells all our pride, our faith in Him who sits 
High on the circle of the turning stars ! 
Has He forgotten us? Is there no voice 
Out of these many sounds to speak that word 
Which shall call hither from the ends of earth 
The seed of Abraham? Yea, I am one 
Who is not shaken by the wind of doubt 
That God hath ceased to care for Israel. 
He waits for men who are within His hands 



30 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Like arrows ready for the bending bow — 
Think you that He is never touched by hate? 
Why then Gehenna for His enemies? 
By all the torment of the ever-damned ! 
He serves God most who feeds eternal hate 
Within his heart ; therefore I pledge you this : 
Hate in all hearts against the Scarlet Whore 
Of Babylon ! 

Young Men \^mith a shouf]. 
A Caiaphas ! 

Judas. Oh, said! 

We will not cease to hate until her brow 
Has made a furrow in the dust, so deep 
That from the soil made moist by many tears 
Shed from her sorrow and her shame, a tree 
From Jesse's root shall grow and spread its 

branches 
Over the earth. 

Philip. Is it enough to hate? 

Where is your army? Or will you seduce 
With wooing words and odorous oils and balms 
Yonder fair lady — Queen of Babylon? 

Mary [nestling among the pillows.^ 
Now, Philip, are you musical. 

Young Men [^mth lifted hands. ^ 

Philip ! 

Judas. We will make war. 

Philip. So, on a day, the dove 

Cooed to the hawk. 

Judas. But there are men in thousands. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 31 

Philip. As there are fishes in the sea, or stones 

Along the shore. 
Caiaphas. Fishes are caught with nets, 

And stones are gathered by the hand. 
Philip. Tlie net — 

Show me the net. 
Caiaphas. Four strands but make a mesh. 

Yet from one mesh the knots are multiphed 

Until the fisher casts and there are fish. 
Philip. You, Caiaphas, are in the mood for 

riddles. 
Caiaphas. I learn the play of words from you. 
We four 

Are twined together by an oath 

Mary. The Mesh ! 

Caiaphas. Are we not bound by such a love for 
land, 

Kindred and tongue that we are as a mesh 

Among the many in a fisher's net.'' 
Philip. Ay, that we are. 
Caiaphas. God is the fisherman — 

Let Israel together be His net. 
Philip. It takes a weary time to weave a net. 
Caiaphas. Not when the many weavers are as 

one. 
Mary. Oh, that we were as one! 
Philip. And we are not — 

They play at dream, Mary, they play at dream. 
Mary. Judas and Caiaphas.'' 



32 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Philip. Like children, they, 

Pretending this, pretending that, the while 

Rome feeds her children on the fat of Judah. 
Caiaphas. Not so: the city is awake at sound 

Of one whose cry is that of Debora. 
Mary. Your voice? 

Philip. Guess at the man of Kerioth. 

Mary [looking at Judas]. 

'Tis never louder than a sigh. 
Caiaphas. A voice 

Speaks at the Jordan. 
Mary. John ? 

Caiaphas. So you have said. 

Philip. The hairy man of Carmel come again .f" 

Boom! Boom! Bang! — there is a prophet for 
you! 
Judas. You should see how the people follow him. 
Caiaphas. They come from out all Jewry unto 

him. 
Judas. And eager for his word. 
Caiaphas. They bend to him. 

As reeds before the wind. 
Philip \laugMng'\. 

A gusty wind. 
Judas [^angrUi/^. 

Mocker ! 

Philip. A wind among the reeds ! 
Judas. A prophet I 

Philip. Hail to the captain and his host of reeds ! 

Tremble, Tiberias ! 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 33 

Caiaphas. Yet he who moves 

Men by the power of his passioned word 
Can split a throne asunder with that sound. 

Mary. What is a prophet? 

Philip. Wind among the reeds ! 

Young Men \^mth laughter^. 
A merry Philip ! 

Judas. One within whose heart 

All music sings and love is found complete; 
Who measures in himself the utter man ; 
Who is more gentle than a baby's mouth 
Upon its mother's breast, and yet can show 
The hardness and the edge of scimiters 
Against oppression : such a man is John. 

Mary ^mth scorn^. 

You talk like his disciple. 

Judas. No ; I wait 

Messias ! 

Mary. Why wait? 

Judas, John announces him. 

Mary. And so deceives you, while the hand of 
Rome 
Gathers more grapes from Judah's vineyard. 

Philip. Reeds 

For fighters and a wind to captain them ! 

Judas. Messias is to come, and when he comes 
Rome .will be as the dust behind his feet. 

Caiaphas. It is thus written in the Oracles. 

Mary. Lean not so hard on parchment prophe- 
cies, 



34 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

But find the Oracle within your hearts. 

Now is the time for living men to rise 

And shake a banner over all the world. 
Young Men. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah — 

hail! 
Judas. This will Messias do. 
Mary. Then be Messias ! 

Philip. Judas Iscariot, you have been named 

By true prophetic lips. Faith ! if God speak 

To men, how better than with Mary's mouth? 

If so, then I am now for prophecy. 
Judas \^starting hack^. 

You would name me Messias? 
Mary. I have said. 

Caiaphas. If you despise the Oracles of God, 

How can you win the people who are bound 

By adoration of a holy book? 
Mary. Give them a man — they will forget the 

book. 
Caiaphas. John's way is best. He quotes the 
Oracles. 

The people understand and follow him. 
Mary. Do you believe those ancient rolls of 

words ? 
Caiaphas. Is not a people's life within the past? 
Mary. Only when they are idle or afraid. 

As now; give them the living Oracle. . 
Judas [drawing near^. 

Mary, you waste our time with many words. 

Can you not see that our redemption comes 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 3r, 

Only through God's eternal Man whom John 
Now prophesies? 

Mary ^starting in anger from the seat^. 
Beelzebub torment 
You with his flies ! See Caiaphas the priest 
Match his blue ephod with a coat of hair, 
And Judas make obeisance to a voice! 
I say 'tis not in pious posturings 
With ragged beggars at a river's brim, 
That Judah's freedom will be won from Rome; 
But by the presence of a mighty man 
At head of armies like a cedar grove 
In thousands through the vale of Lebanon. 
How Rome would laugh to see your conqueror 
Armoured with camel's hair before a host 
Of lean and leprous beggars ! 

Philip. And the blind — 

Do not forget the blind ! What arrow-shafts 
Shot from their bows would lay the legions 

down, 
Like barley underneath the sickles ! Oh, 
A sight to greet Leonidas ! 

Mary [stamping her foot^. 

And this 
From Caiaphas — the priest who dreamed 
Of lifting ancient Zion to the sun! 

Caiaphas [passionateli/^. 

Lifting her higher than the sun — beyond 
The utmost star within the firmament! 
[With uplifted hand.'] 



S6 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

If I forget thee, Jerusalem, 

Let my right hand forget her cunning! 

Young Men and Maidens. ZIon! 

Mary [fo Caiaphas~\. 

Then by your hand that supphcates the sky, 
Be quit of prophets. 

Judas. John is not a man 

To be forgotten. 

Mary. Not while many words 

Keep him remembered; let him pass away 
In silence lest his presence make you mad. 
You call him prophet? Well, and what of that! 
Are you all slaves to offices and names? 
Forget these titles that were framed of old. 
And be yourselves their true significance — 
Prophet? a mouther of rude, roaring cries 
That give expression unto sickly thoughts ! 
For there you have the prophet : One who bawls 
What common men have thought — the poten- 
tate 
Of parables that are the ghosts of words 
Long dead and waiting for a burial. 
Judas, I would have you create new names, 
New meanings, thoughts, dreams, aspirations, 

hopes. 
And so lead men out of their slavery — 
Their cringing to the yoke tradition binds 
On coward-necks — to such a place and time 
Where altars, oracles, and covenants 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 37 

Caiaphas lin righteous reproach]. 

You blaspheme, Mary ! 
Mary [tensely]. 

Priest, I only pray! 
Caiaphas. There- must be temples. 
Mary. That there may be priests.'* 

Caiaphas. How otherwise would sinful man know 

God? 
Mary [with rapture, as she looks out on the sky 
and the city]. 

Even as the birds build nests and hatch their 
young; 

As every flower is faithful to the field; 

As every spring knows its appointed time. 
Judas. You beckon back to groves of Bel and 

Molech ! 
Philip. Give me dear Aphrodite with the song 

Of young Apollo to the golden lyre. 
Mary. Not Syria's dark, templed tyranny, 

Karnak, nor Capitol, nor Parthenon — 

That shut men from the gladness of the sky — 

Does Mary bid you build ; for she would break 

All prison doors. 
Caiaphas. You laugh at holy things ! 

Mary. Where laughter dies there is no holiness. 
Judas. Nor shall we laugh until Messias come. 
IVIary. He waits until you laugh. 
Judas. First must be tears. 

Caiaphas. In sorrow for our sins. 



38 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Mary \_approaching Caiaphas^. 

One sin alone 
Must be repented. 

Caiaphas. That ? 

Mary. Unfaithfulness. 

Caiaphas. Wherein were we unfaithful? 

Mary. In your altar. 

Caiaphas. The smoke of sacrifice has never 
ceased, 
Nor have we faltered In our penitence, 
These many years. 

Mary. And so were you unfaithful — • 

How God has waited for a man to come. 
Telling the world that fears Him of His love ! 

Judas. Such is Messias. 

Caiaphas. How can there be love. 

Until God's enemies are dead? 

Mary. Can God 

Have enemies? 

Judas. Oh, when Messias comes. 

He comes triumphant on a blood-red horse. 
Lifting a banner ; at his mighty voice 
The earth shall tremble and the mountains fall. 
The sea roll back and pour into the void 
That bounds the world; the deserts shall be- 
come 
Great gardens of white lilies for his feet, 
The rivers flow with oil to his anointing! 
John cried: "Make straight the crooked paths 
for him !" 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 39 

Oh, I would be the maker of those paths; 
The herald of his presence with a sword; 
The smiter for Messias on my shield, 
Waking the world from slumber at my call: 
"Now is the kingdom that was promised 
near !" 

Caiaphas. Spoken, my Maccabeus! 

Young Men. Maccabeus! 

Philip. Ranted like any John in camel-skin ! 

Mary. Like any scribe, loving long words that 
make 
A double meaning! 

Judas. Come with me to John. 

Mary. Nay, Judas. 

Judas. Come and you will find a king. 

Mary. Of lame and leprous men.'' 

Judas. A king of words, 

Throned on the highest thought where he be- 
holds 
The future in the waking dream of God; 
To whom the moments are as numbered leaves 
Growing forever from the tree of life. 
Look on his face, and you will see a man 
Above all other men, so far beyond 
The love of self, it seems the infinite 
Shines through his eyes and overflows with 

words 
Upon his tongue. Could God come down to 

earth 
And tabernacle in the form of flesh. 



40 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Blinding His glory with a mortal veil, 
John's body would suffice ; for God must choose 
The highest human for His highest love. 

Mary. So you have seen Messias in John's face? 

Judas. Therefore I wait for John to show me him. 

Mary. A man is measure^ by the thing he sees. 

Judas. You mean.'' 

Mary. We are no higher than our thought. 

Judas. A mist is on your words. 

Mary. Now comes the sun 

To melt the mist away: if you have seen 
Messias, who is also called the Christ, 
Mirrored a moment on your prophet's face, 
The image of the true is in yourself. 

Judas. Mary ! 

Mary. Look in your soul and find him there ! 

Caiaphas. Ah! you have touched a truth that we 
must keep 
Forever in the mind. 

Judas. What do you mean? 

Caiaphas. Christ or Messias is a mystic word 
Which has no meaning, save a hope, a dream. 
Purpose and prayer within a nation's mind, 
That slowly shapes the growing character 
Until within the womb of such a race 
Divine men are conceived and come to birth. 

Judas [excited^. 

Too vague ! Too vague ! Messias is the man 
Who comes of David's line to David's throne; 
A warrior like David who will tread 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 41 

The wine-press of his fury and his wrath; 
A lord of battles who will seize the sun 
And lift it like a torch above his head, 
Calling the stars together like a host 
Of levelled spears, the mountains like a throng 
Of horsemen riding in their great array ! 
From boyhood I have dreamed this dream of 

Christ ; 
Have mused on him all day among the fields ; 
Have waited for the moment that is near. 

Mary. I think you rave. 

Philip. Give him a cup of wine — 

Or shall I sing? 

Erinna [^drawing near to Philip^. 

Already is the moon 
Waiting until the sun withdraws from day. 
To keep her tryst among the clustered vines 
With lovers underneath the night, and we 
Grow weary of these words ; so, Philip, sing. 

Philip. It is not easy, maid, to be a Greek 
In Palestine. 

Erinna. The Muse of song is Joy. 

Philip. Come, comrades, let us leave this place. 
I need 
Much laughter to accept the world. 

Erinna. Philip, 

Harp us for dancing down to meet the moon. 

Young Men and Maidens [following Erinna], 
Oh, harp for us ! 

Philip. Mary, will you not come? 



42 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Mary. I wait to talk with Judas. 

Philip. Come with us. 

Judas is drunk with tears. 
Mary. Go you ; I stay. 

[The trumpets of the temple blow.^ 
Priest, get you to your prayers. 
[She reclines on the seat.^ 
Caiaphas. We meet, my friends, 

One week from Sabbath near Bethabara. 
[He goes out at right.^ 
Philip. Ajj^, John will prove a pastime — let us 

go. 
Judas. Cease, Philip, from your idle mockery. 
Philip. Some must make merry, or the world 
would be 
Sodden with tears. Ho, hand in hand together ! 
I meet you, Mary, near Bethabara. 
[Philip strikes a chord on the harp— at its 
sound the young men and maidens clasp 
hands and begin to dance about the fountain; 
he plays to their movement, then svngs.^ 

Ho for a kiss or a golden crown! 

Which would you have, my lover.? 

Give me a maid when the sun goes down. 

With the stars and moon above her; 

Give me her mouth, you may keep your crown — 

Be it gold, or be it myrtle: 

For I know a lass beyond the town, 

Clad in a crimson kirtle! 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 43 

[With a final chord of joy, Philip and the 
others pass through the arch.~\ 

Mary [to Judas who has been pacing to and fro 
during Philip^s song^. 
I would that you had some of Philip's joy. 

Judas [going slowly towards Mary who makes 
room for him on the seat^. 
How can I laugh, with sorrow everywhere? 

Mary. What! Sorrow everywhere.'' 

Judas. A flood of tears 

Billows against the very mountain peaks, 
And no one builds an ark to ride that sea. 

Mary. Then let us build an ark. 

Judas. We are too weak. 

Mary. Find strength in love. 

Judas [tenderlyl. 

Our love.'* 

Mary [clapping her hands^. 

You are awake — 
How you have slumbered, Judas, through this 
day! 

Judas. Evening and you and I together make 
Me for awhile forgetful. 

Mary. It is well; 

For you have been too long remote from me. 
And I have wondered often in the night: 
Has Judas ceased to love me? — Ah, my dear! 
That was not ever Mary's way with men, 
Who held them in the hollow of her hand. 
Making them sigh to shadows for a kiss. 



44 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Until you came upon me, as the spring 
Comes to the earth weary of winter days, 
Laughter and love were frozen in my heart; 
And I was reckless of the joy I slew, 
Though women cursed and called me harlot, 

raved 
Wildly from door to door and whispered words 
Behind their hands in hatred of my name. 

Judas \^sinili7ig and taking Mary''s hands^. 
Women are envious, my Magdalene, 
Knowing you are more beautiful than they. 

Mary. They call me sorceress. 

Judas [mocHwgf]. 

Unkind! Unkind! 

Mary. You laugh at me.'' 

Judas. Dear one, a moment past 

I was rebuked for tears. 
\^He draws her to him.^ 

Mary [her head on his breast^. 

Judas, my love! 

Judas. Always your love. 

Mary. Beyond all other love? 

Judas. More than my adoration of this land; 
More than my hatred of the men who plough 
Earth with us ! 

Mary. Yet you still delay the time 

Of our espousal. 

Judas. Onlj ^iH Christ comes. 

INIary [freeing herself from his embrace~\. 
That word is like a torch to kindle flame 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 45 

Of anger in my heart ! 
Judas. What sudden wind 

Blackens my crystal fountain of delight? 
Mary. The name — the name — I hate it! 
Judas. Hate a name? 

Mary. As you hate Rome. 
Judas [in high exultance']. 

Who bears that name will go 

From strength to strength until Tiberius 

Creeps like a dog behind his chariot. 
Mary. Then take that name and I will hold it up, 

Like any festal goblet, to the world. 

Pledging the Man of Kerioth ; or else 

I dash it to the ground and with my heel 

Grind each frail fragment into common dust — 

I will not have you fettered with a lie ! 

[^Starts in anger to her feet; Judas rises and 
taJces her handJ\ 
Judas. Mary, you are like other women in your 
love — 

Blinded because of its white radiance. 

Can you not see that I am not the man 

To do this thing? 
Mary. Love makes of every man 

A Christ to women. 
Judas. Yea, and love gives men 

The hunger that Christ only satisfies. 

Come, sit with me and let me tell a tale 

No other ears have heard. 

[He leads Mary hack to the seat.'] 



46 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Mary [leaning against his shoulder']. 

A tale of love? 

Judas. A love like that which only angels know. 

Mary [smiling up at him]. 

There, you are wrong, for we are mortal flesh. 

Judas. Not ours, O Heart! 

Mary [petulantly]. 

Deafness descends on me. 

Judas. From boyhood I have dreamed a dream 
of Christ. 

Mary [sullenly]. 

And still you dream. 

Judas. It came first unto me 

In Nazareth. 

Mary. Oh, read the proverb well : 

"Can any good come out of Nazareth .f"' 

Judas. One day I travelled down from Kerioth 
And came to Nazareth. 

Mary [ indifferen tly] . 

And there you slept? 

Judas. Apart from my good father's company, 
I rode in joy of idling on the road 
That whispered to the hedges of the day 
When Saul drove back the broken Philistines, 
Or, when young David brought Goliath's head, 
Triumphant to Jerusalem. Each mile 
Was hallowed by the feet of holy men 
Who lived on earth and proved that heaven is 

near. 
So, dreaming, I looked up, and lo ! a lad 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 47 

Like to myself in years, but very tall 
And comely, called across a barley field : 
*'David and Jonathan once walked this way." 
Halting my horse, I answered swift to him: 
"Hail, Daniel ! Thou hast read aright my 

dream." 
And he: "Nay, there was that upon your face 
Which told the secret ; and I also dream." 
"Then is the love of those immortal friends 
Blended again in us," I cried ; "for he 
Who reads my heart already has my heart !" 
"Have I your heart.''" he challenged. "Yea, 

you have," 
I answered, leaping from my horse to meet 
His hand across the hedge of blossomed thorn. 

Mary [interested^. 

How very sudden is the way of youth! 

Judas. Yea, like our love when first I looked on 
you! 

Mary. Now you have made me glad. 

Judas. Like you the tale.'* 

Mary [nestling against his shoulderj^. 
Oh, I am greedy of each little word 
That tells of you ! — Say on ; I like the lad. 

Judas. Him you shall see one day. 

Mary. Where does he live.'' 

Judas. Capernaum. 

Mary. 'Tis near Bethabara.'' 

Judas. Come with us to the river, and then meet 
My Carpenter. 



48 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Mary [with changed voice^. 

Oh, I had thought of liim 
As one aloof and fingering a sword 
Until you called him bravely to your side ! 
Judas. His tongue is like a sword. 
Mary [impatiently']. 

Another John ! 
Judas. There is no thunder in his voice, whose 
word 
Cuts to the marrow of what men dispute. 
Mary. The day of dull-eyed teachers is at end — 
The world needs men.^ — So back and be a boy 
Along the thorn-hedged road to Nazareth. 
Judas. That day we talked of many things, and 
since 
Have talked: How from the chosen seed must 

spring 
The world's Man who will walk at ease with 

God, 
Revealing Him who sits upon the stars 
And makes of earth a footstool ; how the day 
Of Eden will return, and every man 
Sit under his own fig tree in the light 
That never darkens ; how the graves will give 
Back their dead ; how the noise of war will 

cease, 
And with the sighing of the sorrowful 
All things shall pass that wet the world with 
tears. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 49 

Mary \^c aught hy the vision, clasps her hands 
upon her knees and looks away from Judas^. 
Judas, I would go now to find our garden. 

Judas. First must Christ come. 

Mary, We'll find him in a garden. 

Judas. You mean 

Mary. The garden of all lovers ; there 

Only can Christ be found: for now I see 
That Christ is love — the living flame of love 
Kindled by comrade-souls who meet on earth, 
Remember in the meeting of their eyes 
That moment called eternity, ere time 
Drew them asunder from the bliss of heaven 
And hurled them down the gulf of aching days. 
Oh, time is the arch enemy of God — 
The serpeijt who wiles woman from her joy, 
Fills earth for man with thistles and with 

thorns ! 
Time is the cross on which dear love is nailed, 
And love is Christ who from that lifted cross 
Whispers to lovers : "Patience ! We prevail." 

Judas. Christ is God's Man, and, by the word of 
John 
His coming is at hand. 

Mary [dreamilyl. 

I hear the birds 
Twitter at twilight, calling from a garden. 

Judas. And I hear laughter shaking round the 
world — 
Ransomed by our high Captain of the host. 



50 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Mary [with outspread hands^. 

O red and yellow blossoms ! O green globes 
Of little grapes that cluster on a wall! 

Judas. I'll be the trumpet of the Lord, to blow 
Hither the thrice ten thousand spears of Dan, 
Ephraim and Manasseh, with the bows 
Of Benjamin, from every part of earth 
Where the Dispersion are; and they will come 
To Armageddon like a storm of sand! 

Mary [rising and walking down to front with 
open arms^. 

magic of white marble, where our home 
Stands in a garden I 

Judas [following her^. 

Mary, tempt me not! 

Mary [turning and clasping Judas^. 

And we will make an arbour out of vines 
Trained from the roots to shelter from the sun ! 

Judas. Not till Messias comes ! 

Mary. There will be children ! 

Judas. God, keep me to my vision ! 

Mary [starting back in angerl^. 

You forswear 
Our love.'' 

Judas. Now in the holy name of Christ, 

1 pledge myself to such a love of you, 
That all the music of wild, mating birds; 
The harping of the wind among the trees ; 
The sound of water singing to the shore; 
The timbrels and the dulcimers of dawn. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 51 

And echoing of laughter over fields — 
What time the reapers gather up the corn; 
Shall fail the joy of our betrothal song, 
When Christ, the Bridegroom, gathers to the 

feast 
The lovers who have tarried for his day. 
[He kneels at Mary^s feet.'] 
Mary [looking down at him in tears']. 
1 am a woman — love me — that is Christ! 



ACT II 

Scene. — Near Bethabara at the River Jordan. 
One week later. 

At rear are mountain ranges. Above one 
Ragged, wild peak hangs the red disk of the 
setting sun. Terraces of splintered rock 
descend to the Jordan — winding among deep 
gorges to a ford where the tall bulrushes 
are visible. 

At left rear is a group of men and women, 
indistinct and far. 

Red and yellow granite boulders occupy 
the spaces at right and left. 

A plain with here and there a palm tree, 
along which people come and go, fills the 
foreground. 

At front centre a granite boulder stands 
under a sycamore tree. 

A Priest, a Levite, a Pharisee are gath- 
ered near the rock in earnest conversation. 
Breaking in upon their speech are heard the 
cries of the Vendors calling their wares of 
dates, figs, wine, bread, carob-pods and 
honey. 

At intervals the voice of John, rising 
52 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 53 

above the murmur of the crowd, and thinned 
hy distance, is clearly audible like an echo. 

Wine Vendor \^singing^. 

Wine for priests and masters 
In a stoppered jar — 
Drink, ye turbaned fasters, 
From the dewy jar — 
Drink and find forgetting 
Of things as they are ! 

Though the sun be setting, 

Twinkle soon, star! 

And until to-morrow, 

Ye may travel far 

From your constant sorrow 

With wine from a jar. 

Others. Ho, ye hungry! 

Ho, ye hungry ! 
Carobs ! Carobs ! 
Dates and figs ! 
Bread and honey. 

Voice of John. The Kingdom is at hand ! 
A Priest. Beelzebub's.'' 

A Levite. Well said! for yonder is a swarm of 
flies. 

[Levi, a publican, approaches from the crowd.^ 
Levi. 'Ware lest they sting you. Priest ! 
Priest. Lend me your hide — 

Nothing is thicker than a publican's ! 



54 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Levite. Ha ! ha ! ho ! ho ! 

Levi. You laugh in antiphon, 

And like a Levite to your master's wit. 
Bread Vendor. Bread, my masters, won't you 
buy? 
Life is in each golden crust; 
Eat, and you will never die, 
Fast, and lo, 'tis dust to dust! 

Pharisee, What ribald, Gentile blasphemy is 
this? 

Levi. The priest and levite laughing, Pharisee? 

Pharisee. The singer and his song. 

Priest. He mocks the fast ! 

Scribe. All Israel goes whoring after noise — 
God curse Tiberius ! 

Levi. Gently, young Scribe, 

The lightest whisper of our little world 
Breathes in the ear of Cassar; you may find 
Your tongue the shorter for that spoken word. 

Scribe. I take no measure of a Publican. 

Levi. So long you Scribes have tailored to the 
Law, 
You have no skill to make another's coat. 

Priest. He has no heart to fit unblemished fleece 
Upon a wolf! 

Levite. Oh, said, my master, said! 

Pharisee [loftilt/^ . [wolves 

Yea, such are Publicans — wolves — hungry 
Clad like the guileless sheep for tearing them. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 55 

Levi. And what are Pharisees? 

Vendor. Dry carob pods ! 

Levi [io the Vendor^. 

Hither and take a shekel for that word — 

Levite, why don't you laugh? — Dry carob 
pods! 
Voice of John. Repent! 

Priest. That is the word — only 

the blood 

Of sacrifice on altars can appease 

The wrath of God against our common sin. 
Pharisee. And fasts — do not forget the fasts — 
how else 

Can we be purified except by fasts 

And payment of all tithes? 
Scribe. Learning the Law 

Must company the fast and sacrifice — 

Ay, to the very tittle and the jot. 
Priest. A river wide as Jordan, and of blood 

Shall pour down from the Temple for our sins. 
Pharisee. And we will make more of our fasts 

and tithes. 
Scribe. And every child from Beersheba to Dan 

Shall count the jots and tittles of the Law. 
Priest. Then would Messias come ! 
Pharisee. How can he come 

When brawlers like the Baptist make a noise 

At which the people gape and nod and dance? 
Scribe. Hale him to Herod ! 
Levi. Zealous Scribe! 



56 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Scribe. Worldling! 

Levi. The world is all I have. 

Scribe. There is another. 

Levi. Where ? 

Scribe. Tophet. 

Levi. Wlien do you return to it.'' 

A Woman \_approachmg from left^. 

Sirs, where is John? 
Levi. Yonder. 

Pharisee [coveri7ig his face xoith his cloak^. 

Hence, harlot, hence ! 
Woman. Flint-hearted Pharisee! 
Pharisee. Hence, hence, I say ! 

Priest. Daughter of shame! 

Scribe. Polluter of the air ! 

Woman [stamping her foot^. 

God send a famine to rid all the world 

Of such as you. Scribe, Priest and Pharisee! 
Levi [lightly^. 

And yet would we be left 

Woman [^mth meaning^. 

To laugh and love? 
Levi. You lay love on a shelf of merchandise, 

While laughter is a sound of beaten gongs. 
Woman. Since men are pleased to set a price on 
love. 

To cheapen laughter with a cup of wine. 

Must women go to market. 
Levi. Whence came you? 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 57 

Woman. Out of a woman's cradle. 

Pharisee. Cursed the hand 

That rocked it ! 
Woman. Do you curse your mother's hand.'* 

Pharisee. Now by the pillars of the Porch, may 
you 

Burn in Gehenna for this blasphemy! 
Woman. All mothers meet in Eve. 
Priest. From Eve all sin 

Flows forth on man — harlot, you are accursed! 
Scribe [^intoning^. 

"In sin my mother hath conceived me." — 

So saith the Psalmist. 
Woman \_passionateli/^. 

Take me to a man 

Who has not whispered in his heart that lie, 

And I will be the prophet to declare 

Before the world — Messias is at hand ! 
Priest. He will consume the like of you as chaff! 
Scribe. So reads the word of Prophet Malachi. 
Woman \_fo Scribe']. 

Peace, horn of ink ! 
Scribe. By Aaron's rod — 

Woman. A pen.? 

Levi [laughing']. 

God's arm ! and longer than a weaver's beam — 

Mate to Goliath's 

Woman. Threatening the world 

Until a David meet it with a stone. 



58 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Levi. And so Goliath is a scribe who holds 

Men in forever awe before his pen — 

A shield the written word? 
Woman. Shatter the shield, 

And rid men of Goliath, with a stone ! 
Voice of John. Out of a stone God can create 

a Son! 
Woman. O hear what John saith ! I would go 

to him. 
Scribe. Go, harlot! You will find your sisters 

there. 
Priest. Flow into yonder pool where all the filth 

Gathers for John. 
Pharisee. Yea, go and be baptised 

With publicans and sinners. 
Scribe. What a bath 

For cleansing souls ! 
Levi [taking the woman hy the hand^. 

Come. 
Woman [looking up into his face]. 

What ! you take my hand ^ 
Levi. Mine is as soiled. 

Woman. Though these have taunted me.'* 

Levi. Therefore I take your hand. 
Woman. I am a harlot. 

Levi. And I God's fool ! 
Pharisee [with a gesture of contempt^. 

You are defiled of her. 
Levi [to the Pharisee and others^. 

I am a Publican — one who has lost 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 59 

Faith in all temples ; only this remains : 
Hope that the world will yet know happiness 
Through love. 

Pharisee. Love for the Law.? 

Scribe. The written word.'' 

Priest. Offer a sacrifice — all other love 
Is an abomination unto God ! 

Levi [going towards the river with the woman]. 
Love that is less than gentle to the weak 
Masks hate, though hate be loyalty to God — 
Such loyalty would sell him for a shekel. 
[He and the woman are lost among the crowd 
at the left.] 

Wine Vendor [re-appearing]. 

Wine is like woman — a sip and a song, 
And red of the rose on the mouth. 
Like you the savour? drink deep and drink long 
Till death end your day with a drouth! 

Soldier. Ho there, you bard of Bacchus, give 

me wine ! 
Wine Vendor [a Greek hoy, of slight hut grace- 
ful huild and tanned hy the sun and wind]. 
Ay, Master. 

[Pours from a slender jar into an earthen 
cup.] 

This is not a thirsty throng, 
So drink my flagon empty. 
Priest [to Scribe and Pharisee]. 

Let us go. 



60 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Scribe. And hearken unto John? 

Pharisee. 'Tis well to keep 

Hand on these movements. 

Priest. Yea, the people seem 

Like children dancing in the market place 
To every piper. 

Pharisee. We must set the tune 

And make them dance to what their rulers play, 
Or there'll be insurrection under John. 
[^They mingle with the crowd.^ 

Soldier [to the wine seller^. 

What hell-for-trouble do those jackals plot.'' 

Wine Vendor. Now 'tis the prophet, next day 
this or that. 

Soldier [returning the wine cup~\. 

Pest on these fellows ! Must a soldier run, 
Like any slave set over playing boys. 
Hither and yon to regulate their pranks 
And keep them in some order, lest they tear. 
Scratch, bite or otherwise harm one another? 

Wine Vendor. Drink and forget that you are not 
in Rome, 
Among the maids or at the Colosseum — 
Two cups of this red wine are in one farthing. 

Soldier [taking the second cup and lifting it Mp]. 
Caesar ! 

Voice of John. The axe is at the root ! 

Soldier [lowering the cup and listening^. 

The Vine? 
Bacchus forbid ! 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 61 

[Raises the cup and drinJcs.^ 
Wine Vendor. An axe, a flail, a fan — 

Ha, prophet! Yonder folk know all these well; 

But why not add a sword, a spear and shield? 
Soldier [returning the wine cup]. 

He speaks to woodmen — shepherds, vine dress- 
ers 

And all the ilk of those who drive the plough — 

What do these peasants know of soldier craft? 

Mars ! 'tis a race of rats and moles and mice — 

They are not fit for slaves, yet turbulent 

Past reason. 
Wine Vendor. Take another cup of wine. 

Soldier [throwing a coin on the platter]. 

Here is your farthing, lad — another cup 

Might make one over-hasty with crowd, 

And that is not the discipline of Rome. 

[The Soldier carelessly shoulders his way 
through the crowd at left and is lost to sight 
among the people who more and more gather 
near the river. The Wine Vendor follows, 
singing as he goes. The calls of the Vendors 
grow fainter. The murmur of the people at 
the river blends into a rhythmic sound as of 
wind. 

Two lovers, Obed and Ada, enter at right, 
coming through the rocky defiles, and ap- 
proach the sycamore tree. His right arm is 
about her waist. He points to the rock be- 
neath the tree.] 



62 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Obed. Rest here a moment, ere we go to John. 
Ada. I am not weary, walking at your side. 
Obed, Was it not noon when we went forth to- 
gether ? 
Ada. Noon never was so near to night, my love. 
Obed. All distances of time and place are lost 

When we touch hands. 

[He lifts her to the top of the rock.~\ 
Ada. Then never let mine go, 

And we will mock the moon and dare the sun 

And gather stars like berries in a basket. 
Obed [^springing to her side with a laugh^. 

Time will melt like a snow flake on a leaf 

When we are wed. 
Ada. That is eternity. 

Obed. Ay, where love is complete. 
Ada. Then heaven must be 

Two lovers underneath a sycamore. 
Obed. And so a rock becomes the jasper throne 

Set in the sky. 
Voice of John. Heaven is at hand! 
Ada. 'Tis here— 

John is a prophet. 
Obed. Yet he has no maid — 

How can he prophesy.? 

Ada. Because the world 

Is full of lovers and he knows they love — 

Could any prophesy without such knowledge? 
Obed. If I could stand by yonder stream and tell 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 63 

Men of our love, then would the world repent 
And find salvation. 

Ada. There would be no hate 

Could they but listen to the tender song 
We learned not long ago when we found love. 

Obed. Rome would beat all her swords to pruning 
hooks, 
And Israel would let her bullocks graze; 
For there would be no legions, neither stones 
Wet with the wasted blood of sacrifice — 
O world! how long must all the lovers wail 
Until their secret cleanse and make you glad? 

Ada. When one is born of lovers like us twain — 

Obed [^rapturously and leaping from the rock^. 
Messias whom we seek ! Come, let us go ! 

Ada {leaning to his open arms^. 

Kiss me, dear love, and we will find the Christ! 
[He takes her in his arms.^ 

Obed. Ada, if Christ be anywhere on earth, 
Cana will claim him at our wedding feast! 

Ada. Our wedding feast ! Obed, I count the days ! 

[They go hand in hand towards the river. 

Enter Mary, Judas, Philip and Caiaphas.^ 

Maey [pointing to the rock.^ 
Let me rest here a while. 

Philip. The sun glares red, 

Like Polyphemus' eye upon Ulysses, 
Ere Night — the furtive, wily Ithacan — 
Pierce it and put it out ; yet there is time 



64 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

For loitering beside a sycamore, 

Mary, if you are underneath the bough. 

[He helps her up the rocJc.^ 
Judas [looking towards the river.'] 

How all the world is gone out after John ! 
Mary [xdth a gesture of contempt]. 

Call you that crowd of cawing rooks the world? 
Caiaphas [sententiously] . 

The world is where the people are. 
Voice of John. Repent! 

Mary, Repent! Now must I also change my 

mind? 
Judas. He means the world. 
Mary. A world of cawing rooks? 

They have no mind to change — would I could 
change 

Yours, Judas. 
Philip [to Mary]. 

And I yours. 
Judas. A sound like wind 

Comes from the wilderness, as though the wings 

Of Michael beat above the head of John, 

Announcing that Messias comes to men. 

[A Leper passes at a distance, lifting his cry 
of warning.] 
Leper. Unclean ! Unclean ! 
Mary [shuddering.] 

Oh, what a world of pain! 
Caiaphas [angrily to the leper]. 

Back to your tombs! 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 65 

Lepee [pausing, looks at the priest. He is a man 
in the prime of his days, on whom the disease 
has yet made hut a few visible ravages^. 
Ho, Caiaphas ! 
Caiaphas. Back! Back! 

Leper. I come to hear the prophet. 
Caiaphas. To your tombs ! 

Leper. Mayhap, O priest, he will show me Mes- 

sias. 
Philip [to the leper~\. 

Messias a physician.'' 
Leper. He will lay 

Hands on the sick. 
Caiaphas. But lepers are defiled — 

One may not touch polluted flesh and be 
Without defilement. 
Leper. He who can make whole 

A leper's body will not be afraid 
Of what the X-aw saith ; for in him the Law 
Finds its fulfilment. 
Caiaphas [with a sneer'] . 

Where learned you the Law.'' 
Leper. At feet of her from whom all wise men 

learn. 
Caiaphas. You mean the temple.? 
Leper. Life! 

Philip [swiftly to Caiaphas], 

He answers you — 
Zeus ! but he answers you. Tell me, O man. 



66 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

If there be aught in leprosy to give 

One wisdom. 
Leper. Ay, for lepers are alone, 

And so must learn to lean upon themselves. 
Philip. But not on altars and that kind of 

thing? 
Leper. When pain makes man a living sacrifice — 

Altars are void of meaning. 
Philip. Yet you seek 

Messias 

Leper. Who will be the loneliest 

Among the lonely. 
Judas [impatientli/^. 

You are demonized. 
Mary [to Judas~\. 

Let be — I like to hear the tomb-man talk — 

Perchance you may find some new thing to 
learn 

About your lord of lepers and the like. 
Leper [sadly to Mary]. 

Woman, whose face is like a poppy bud 

Lifted above the green and tender wheat, 

Your beauty is my banishment to depths 

Of darker loneliness. 
Philip [to the leper]. 

You have a friend, 

O man of pain, for beauty exiles me. 
Leper. And so must Lord Messias be a friend 

To lost and lonely ones. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 67 

[He turns and goes painfully toward the river 
crying:^ 

Unclean! Unclean! 
Mary [as a blind minstrel, Bartimceus, ap- 
proaches — finding his way with a staff ^. 
Behold another to the help of John ! 
Bartim^eus [stops at the sound of Mary*s voice 
and fumbles for the psaltery hung at the side 
from his shoulder^. 
O Lady, listen to my song! 
Caiaphas. Away ! 

We want you not. 
Judas. Let us not trifle here 

With lepers and with beggars — let us go 
Nearer to John. 
Mary. A moment — I would hear 

My minstrel. 
Philip. Orpheus out of Arcady 1 

Judas [to Caiaphas^. 

The sun is almost down and yet we wait — 
Missing the words of John — come with me, 
priest. 
Mary. We will abide here at the rock until 
You come with message of Messias. 
[To Bartimceus.l 

Play! 
[As Judas and Caiaphas go towards the river, 
BartimcEus draws near to Mary and Philip 
— striking with a plectrum the strings of hi.i 
psaltery.'] 



68 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Bartim^us. How great! cried the beggar to the 
king; 
How good! sighed the sinner to the saint ; 
How white! cawed the crow to the dove's wing: 
And the Lord God heard their plaint. 

Over the stars wliere the white mists pile, 
God leaned and listened and laughed a while; 
For he knew that each was his own dear son, 
With a work to do till the day was done ! 

Mary [rnoved hy the song^. 

Blind minstrel, you have made me weep. 
BARTiMiEus [^approaching nearer, guided hy the 
sound of Mary's voice^. 

Lady, 

I, too, have known tears, therefore is my song. 

Mary. How you have wept to sing as you have 

sung! 
Bartim^us. That, lady, is the only way of song. 
Philip. Nay, there is laughter on the lips of 

song. 
Bartim^us. When laughter is triumphant over 
tears — 
But some laugh who have never wept, and these 
Know not the goddess. 
Philip. Euterpe is cold 

To minstrels who have only found the strings, 
And not the wind-blown passion of a harp. 
BartimjEUS. Sir, you have sung. 
Phttjp. And I have also laughed. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 69 

Bartim^us. The wings of laughter are besprent 
with tears. 

Philip. To keep them soft for flight.? 

Bartim.eus. Ay, otherwise, 

Life's noon would harden laughter's lifting 

wings 
And make them like a bat's. 

Mary, Blind minstrel, come, 

Sit underneath the sycamore with me. 

Bartim^us {^finding his way to the rock'\. 
Lady, your voice is like a hall of harps. 
When in the night a wind goes whispering 
Among the curtains, and they call to him. 
So that by murmur of a silver sound 
He may find them. 

Mary \^as the minstrel sits at the rock^. 

Ah, you have rightly said. 
My heart is like a hall of silent harps 
That wake to sound when love breathes on the 

strings. 
Calling my name. Tell me, O minstrel man. 
How shall I keep a lover's feet from straying? 

Bartim^us. If he be blind, then let him hear 
your voice; 
If he be deaf, then let him see your face; 
If he be blind and deaf, give him your lips ; 
And if he then be not consumed by love. 
Your love is dead — so, lady, bury him. 

Philip. A wise man ! — Mary, pray put out my 
eyes 



70 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

That I may also see. 
Mary [intent upon the minstrel.^ 

If love were dead, 
My love would wait with balms before his 

tomb — 
I could not leave him lonely on a hill 
Among the sepulchres. 
Bartim^us. If love would sit 

For long against a tomb, leaning her head 
Bravely against its whited wall, oh, then 
The stone would roll away that she might bear 
Her balms and odours to anoint his feet. 
Mary. And though the feet of him had turned 
to dust. 
The mouth that once pressed mine, the eyes that 

looked 
Long into mine, though these had turned to 

dust, 
My patient love would call each golden grain 
Of that same dear, divine, dust of my love 
Back to the quickened clay becoming flesh, 
Until we stood together in a dawn 
Of lilies ! 
Philip. Mary, I love you like that. 
Mary [tenderly to PhilipJi. 

And, Philip, I the Man of Kerioth. 
Bartim^us. Love is the resurrection and the 
life. 
Rejoice, O man, who learned to laugh through 
tears, 



THE MAN OF KERIOTIi 71 

That you are lost in Mary, and so find 

Yourself. Love is the great reward, the sign 

Of heaven's most high approval of a soul. 

When God is ready for another song 

To wing its gladness from the sky to earth, 

He sends it to a lover who has found 

Joy in the giving that seeks not its own. 

Philip. God ! how you have learned love, 

Mary. What is your name.'' 

BARTiMiEus. Men call me Bartimasus. 

Mary. And your home? 

Bartim^us [^rdth a laugh and a sweep of the 
strings^. 
God's earth! 

Philip, There are some rooms of that same 
house I like not over well, 

Mary. Rooms full of shadows — 

Rooms that are locked on phantoms of dead 

faith, 
Dead hope, dead joy, dead love — phantoms that 

cry 
Through key holes down long darkened passage- 
ways. 

Bartim^us. My house is one that is not made 
with hands; 
Its rooms are many, and its open doors 
Shut on no shadows. 

Philip, House not made with hands,'* 

Then you have dreamed it, and I would not live 
Only in dream. 



72 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Bartim^us. Mine is no house of dream 

'Tis very real to me and beautiful. 
O Philip, can you tell me how a bird 
Feels on the nest when all the speckled eggs 
Melt underneath her heart to feathered balls 
Of chirping hunger? How the bleating ewe 
Finds her three lambs and calls them to her 

side, 
Though there be many mothers on the hill? 
That is their secret never to be told — 
And mine the certainty of things that eyes 
Behold and see not. 

Mary [leaning towards the blind man]. 
Oh-, but I would see ! 

Bartim^us. You must be born again — must be 
a child 
With arms of joy wide open to the wind. 

Philip. Minstrel, who taught you that? 

Bartim.eits. a Carpenter. 

Philip. I know a Carpenter and he is wise. 

Mary. Judas knows one, knew him from boy- 
hood, too. 

Bartim^us. Mine lives — 

Philip [quicJcli/]. 

Where ? 

BARTiM:a;us. At Capernaum. 

Mary [eagerly]. 

The same ! 

Philip. He built my villa at Bethsaida. 

BARTiMJi;us. Until I met him I was blind. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 73 

Mary. You mean ? 

Bartim^us. He made me independent of two 

eyes 

And taught me how to see Hfe through my 

soul. 

Philip. He who does that works more than 

miracles. 
Bartim^eus. I know a lame man who has come 
to prize 
His crutches through the Carpenter, and claims 
He walks with greater joy on summer roads 
Than they who travel on their sandaled feet. 
Philip. I met him first along Tiberias 

Where I have business with the fishermen. 
Bartim^eus. He loves to talk with those who 

toil. 
Philip. One day, 

As I stood bargaining, he came and said : 
"Brothers, would you not rather fish for men.'"' 
Simon, a great wild fellow with a voice 
Booming like billows on wave beaten rocks, 
Answered: "One needs a tougher mesh for 

men " 

And then the Carpenter: "I know a net 
That we will cast together, son of Jonas." 
Mary. What did he mean? 

Bartim^eus. Did Simon understand.'* 

Philip. He smote his horny hands together, 
cried : 



74 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

"A net draws up too many prickly things, 

And fishing, master, is a lonely task." 
Mary. What said the Carpenter.'' 
Philip. He only smiled 

And left the fishermen among their nets; 

But I was forced to follow after him 

Until we came unto Capernaum. 
Bartim^us. Talked you with him.'' 
Philip. Until we found his workshop — 

There he began with chisel, plane and saw, 

Singing a little song of joy the while: 

My hand to the board — 
The white shaving curled — 
I think that my Lord 
So fashioned the world. 

My hand to the beam 
Soon planed to a spar, 
As I in a dream 
Saw God make a star! 

Mary. He is a minstrel too. 

Bartim^us. All sons of God 

Must sing. 

Philip. Beneath his hand the tool found life, 

And every fibre of the wood awoke 
To resurrection of a spirit form — 
Clusters of grapes, large lilies, birds a-wing — 
The workshop melted into out-of-doors 
With breath of some divine, creative wind 
That blew upon the toiling Carpenter; 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 75 

Until I bowed before its mastery, 
Cried: "Galilean, let me work with you!" 
And he : "One day we shall together find 
The way of journeymen across the world." 
Mary. Philip, I would know further of this man. 
Voice of Judas. Art thou Messias.'' 
Voice of John. I am but a voice 

Out of the wilderness, calling to men: 
Make straight the crooked path before his feet ! 
Voice of Judas. Prophet of God, when will Mes- 

sias come.'' 
Mary \_pomting towards the river'\. 
Philip, I see a man within the sun ! 
[The sun has slipped down the shoulder of the 
mountain and now hangs low in the sky be- 
hind a tall, remote figure watching the crowd 
at the river. '\ 
Philip \JoUowing Mary's hand^. 

The Carpenter ! 
Voice of John \loudly exultanf]. 

Behold the Lamb of God ! 
Mary. The Carpenter ! 
Voice of Judas [^ringing with joy^. 

My Jesu! is it thou.'' 



ACT III 

Scene. — The Wedding Feast of Cana. Two 
weeks later. A room in the house of Obed 
the bridegroom. 

The earthen floor is spread with carpets 
of many colours. At rear centre a wide 
archway opens on a gallery of a court against 
a night of stars and moonrise. On either side 
of the entrance a spacious ledge strewn with 
cushions extends to right and left of the room 
where it runs at right angles to front. The 
walls are hung with garlands. Many brass 
lamps are suspended from the ceiling by 
bronze chains ; clusters of candles project 
from the walls; in the soft glow of their 
light every detail of the interior is visible. 
In the centre is a platform covered with a 
red carpet beneath a canopy of palm leaves. 
The room is full of guests, reclining along 
the ledge, eating and drinki/ng from little 
tables placed at intervals. Among the cush- 
ions on the platform Obed and Ada recline 
— she tenth her head upon his breast. He 
wears the glorious apparel of a bridegroom 
76 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 77 

with a crown of wild flowers on his head. 
Her hair flows over her shoulders and is 
caught at the temples hy a wreath of myrtle 
— her bridal garment glittering with pieces of 
silver — her arms and ankles adorned with 
bracelets of gold. At right of the platform 
musicians are seated, playing on pipes, harps, 
sachbuts, cymbals and drums. 

Moving among the guests, or stopping to 
speak to Obed, or giving commands to the 
servants coming and going with flagons of 
wine on trays, the Master of the Feast is 
distinguished by a goM embroidered robe 
and staff. 

It is the last evening of the wedding feast 
— rejoicing and laughter are at their high- 
est. 

Obed [in a lull of laughter and silence of instru- 
ment si . 
To-morrow we will share joy's dearest gift — 

Ada. Silence? 

A Guest. More wine ! 

Obed. The guests are thirsty. 

A Guest. Wine! 

A Rabbi. Where wine is wanted, there physicians 
thrive. 

Another [holding his cup to a servant and berth 
ing to the Rabbi^. 
May wine be always on a Rabbi's mouth ! 



78 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Another. A good old proverb, friend, and very 
true. 

Another. Here is a better — 

Another. What! know you a better? 

Another. Hush you, and babble not, for you are 
drunk. 

A Rabbi {^toying with a cluster of raisins'\. 
There is an ancient parable that reads: 
When Noah planted in a field the vine, 
Satan went by and said — "What doest thou.'"' 
"Planting a vineyard," Noah made reply. 
"What for.?" asked Satan. Then the patri- 
arch: 
"That men may come to know the joy of wine." 

Several [with laughter and lifting their cups']. 
Hail, Noah! 

Rabbi. Then cried Satan — "Let me help," 

And Noah — "That you may." 

Revellers [at left, with boisterous laughter'\. 

Hell's in the cup 1 

Rabbi. So Satan killed a lamb, a lion, sow 
And ape, letting their blood soak in the roots 
Noah had planted. Thus it is that man, 
Before he drinks is dumb like any lamb, 
But after many cups feels as a lion. 
Until by further quaffing he becomes 
A sow content to wallow in the mire, 
And ends an ape that chatters, grins and 
gnarls, 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 79 

Staggers and falls, curls there and goes to 
sleep ! 
Obed [looking at a noisy group^. 

Yonder are many who will soon be apes. 
Ada. Dear, and our wedding feast! 
A Young Man [lifting a cup of 7mne'\. 

The bride! The bride! 
[He stands and sings to an accompaniment of 
harps. '\ 

Her eyelids have no stain of blue, 
Her hair falls waving as it grew, 
Her hands need not the henna-tone. 
And those deep blushes are her own ! 

Alx the Guests [clapping their hands, join in 
the songl. 

Her brow is like a misted moon, 
Her eyes the sky at autumn noon. 
Her mouth a poppy wet with rain. 
Her throat is love mid liUes lain. 

[At a sign from the Master of the Feast, the 
musicians begin to play — at which many of 
the guests arise and salute the bride and 
bridegroom with outstretched hands and re- 
tire to the gallery. Throughout the evening 
there are such movements when guests depart 
and new ones take their places at the tables.^ 
Master of the Feast [to the new comer s'\. 

Welcome, O friends of Cana, to the feast 

Of Obed and of Ada. 



80 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

New Comers [saluting Obcd and Ada^. 
Hail to love! 

Obed. I, Obed, answer for love on my heart. 

New Comers. May children be as vines upon 
your wall. 
[They take their places at the tables — servants 
hearing their food on platters with flagons 
of wine and cups, as a company of Maidens 
enter, at a sign from the Master of the Feast. 
To an accompaniment of music they dance 
about the platform strewing flowers on Obed 
and Ada from wicher baskets hung from their 
shoulders. As they dance they sing.^ 

Maidens [singing^. 

Along the wall 

Green tendrils crawl — 

Love, thou art on my breast, 

O sleep and take thy rest! 

The clustered vine 
Tells of the wine 
Our love will one day pour 
To children at thy door. 

Their little feet 

Are on the street 

In laughter, song and play — 

Wake, O my Love ! 'tis day. 

The sun is up — 
Drink of the cup 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 81 

I from love's flagon pour 
To children at thy door. 

[Ada, under a shower of blossoms, rises and 
from a jar at her side throws silver pieces 
among the maidens who laughingly scatter 
to gather them from the floor. ^ 
Ada [standing above the maidens with Obed^. 
May you have love, friends of my maidenhood, 
As I with Obed; may your wedding feast 
Know laughter; may Messias be your guest. 
Maidens. Messias will be master of all feasts, 

When he is come to ransom Israel. 
Ada [to the guests, who rise at her word^. 
Friends, in the name of him who is to come, 
I thank you for your presence at our feast. 
Guests. Ada, this is your hour — to you we bow. 

[They bow and seat themselves.^ 
Master of the Feast [approaching Obed and 
Ada.'] 
Except for revellers there would be wine 
To last the night. 
Obed. There's plenty and to spare. 

Master of the Feast. The guests are many and 
the revellers 
Drink more than is the custom. 
Ada [distressedl. 

Oh, the shame 
If we fail of our hospitality ! 



82 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Obed. Send forth the servants quickly through 
the town, 
Bidding them buy more wine. 
Ada. Ay, quickly send. 

Shall it be said of Obed's wedding feast — 
They had no wine ! 
Revellers [still at left and growing more noisy 
— to a Servant. 1 

Ho, fellow, give us wine! 
Servant [anxiousli/J. 

Peace, peace, my masters ! This is not the 

place 
For noise and revelling — can you not see 
The brow of Cana's bride is red for shame.? 
Master of the Feast. It shall be even as you 
have said. 
[He retires to the gallery where he is seen talk- 
ing to a servant.^ 
Revellers [pounding on tJie tables with their 
empty cups.'\ 

Wine ! Wine ! 
[Among the guests who enter at this moment 
from the porch are Mary of Nazareth, Jesus, 
Judas, Philip, Simon, Levi the Publican, An- 
drew, James and John. They recline at left 
near the revellers. The Master of the Feast 
approaches, and rebukes the noisy ones.^ 
Master of the Feast. Good friends, I pray you 
let not thirst for wine 
Make you forgetful of the parable 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 83 

Our reverend Rabbi told. 
Mary [^o Jesus^. 

Thev have no wine. 
Revellers. Wine ! Wine ! 
Mary [to Jesus^. 

Oh, speak to them — Ada is ashamed. 
Jesus [to Mary^. 

Mother, my moment ha| not come, 
Judas [to Jesus^. 

Speak now. 
Jesus. Judas, have you not learned to wait? 
Judas. To wait? — ■ 

Master, the world has waited over long. 

Speak now with that divine authority 

Men look to find in him who is Messias. 
Peter. Yea, Master, 'tis a time for you to 
speak — 

Rise up forthwith and let them hear your voice. 
Philip. Master, give heed to what these say. 
James. A sign — 

Give them a sign — a sudden miracle 

To awe and silence them. 
John. Call to the sky 

And make it thunder. 
Jesus [smiling on the disciples^. 

Friends, you do not know 

What spirit you are of. 
Simon [with loud voice to the companyli. 

Oh, hear the word 

Of Jesus who is called the Carpenter. 



84 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Master of the Feast. Attend ! 
Guests. Speak, Jesus of Capernaum. 

Jesus. Blessed are you who thirst for right- 
eousness. 
Ada [^smUingl^. 

Jesus, my friend! 
John [with his arm over Jesus' shoulder^. 

The friend of all the world ! 

J- 

Jesus. Of all who love. 

Judas. Ah, Master, wisely said — 

But not of those who hate. 
Jesus. You are mj'^ friend.'' 

Judas. Master, you know I am. 
Jesus. Then must you love. 

Judas. But not the hateful like these noisy ones ! 
Jesus. There are no hateful. 
Thomas \_one of the Revellers, to Judas'\. 

He has "answered you. 

Wine made us noisy, but the greater sin 

Is yours who judge. 
A Reveller. We have enough of that 

From Priest and Pharisee. 
Jesus [to the Revellers^. 

All you are sons 

Of one Eternal Father. 
Thomas. Sons of God.f* 

There is no God ! or if there be, he cares 

No whit for us. 
Jesus [^pointing to Ohed and Ada^, 

Friend, that is God. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 85 

Rabbi [mm^ and tearing his outer garment^. 

Jesus, 

Now you blaspheme! 
An Elder [leaving the table and going towards 
the door'\. 

This at a wedding feast ! 
Jesus [io both^. 

Hold, friends, have you not heard that God 
is love? 
John [with enthusiasm^. 

He has the word ! 
Elder [at the door and looking back^. 

You trifle with the Name 

That is above all other names ! 
Rabbi [joining himj. 

God lo-e ! 

[Thei^ go out together"]. 
Thomas [laughingly to the others]. 

The room is well rid of those wagging beards — 

Come, let us finish what we have of wine. 
The Rest [lifting their cups]. 

Well said — health, Carpenter. 

[They drink.] 
Jesus. And to be whole 

Is health. 
Thomas. When I am sober I am half — 

When I am tipsy, faith, then am I whole. 

[The others laugh.] 
Jesus. He is not whole who adds unto himself 

What is without. 



86 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Thomas. Wliat mean you, Carpenter? 

Jesus. Divided kingdoms do not stand. 
Thomas. How so? 

Jesus. If you are half when sober, are you not 

Divided ? 
Thomas. Ay, and joined when I am drunk. 
Jesus. And wine is that which is not of the soul? 
Thomas. It makes a pleasant mixture. Carpen- 
ter. 
Jesus. I come to tell you of a wine within. 
Thomas. Show me the way to it that I may 

drink. 
Jesus. First find yourself. 

Thomas. How can one find himself? 

Jesus. If you will follow me you shall drink 
wine 

Within my Father's Kingdom. 
Thomas. Where is that, 

Jesu Bar Joseph? 
Jesus. In your soul. 

Thomas. My soul? 

I only have a soul when there is wine. 
Others. Ha ! ha ! 

Jesus. The wine of which I speak is love. 

Thomas. A maiden's mouth, for instance.'' — not 
for me — 

Blood of the grape ! give me a flagon full. 

And keep all women from tormenting me. 
Jesus. I speak of love that loses life to give 

Life to the world. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 87 

Judas \_to the Revellers]. 

Hear you that word, O Sons 
Of Belial? — life to a world that dies 
Because you and your like sit down to drink 
Wine that is trampled from the flesh of men! 
Behold Messias who has come to call 
Brave hearts and true to lift the Roman yoke 
Forever from the neck of Israel ! 

Thomas. The Carpenter? he makes yokes for a 
trade. 

Jesus. My yoke is easy and my burden light. 

Thomas. I'll yoke me twixt two flagons of red 
wine. 

Jesus. Nay, you will follow me. 

Thomas. Are you a prophet? 

Jesus. Friend, I have seen your soul. 

Thomas Uaconicalli/']. 

What did you see? 

Jesus. A sorrow that made you afraid. 

Thomas [starting from the table]. 

"^ Afraid? 

Jesus. And so you ran away from fear with wine. 

Thomas Ibrokenly]. 

You are a prophet ! 
Jesus. Friend of those who weep. 

Thomas [leaving the others, goes to where Jesus 
sits among the disciples]. 

Yea, I have sorrowed, Master. 

Jesus [reaching forth and taking him by the 

hand] . . 

Thomas, cornel 



88 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Thomas [looking at Jesusl. 

Let me go forth beneath the quiet stars, 

And think a while. 
Jesus. Go. 

[Thomas goes out into the night.'\ 
Mary [to Jesus^. 

You have made him whole. 
Jesus [to Mary'\. 

Not yet, my Mother, there are many days 

Ere Didymus has learned to drink my cup. 
Peter [in a loud voice J. 

Lord, I will drink thy liquor to the lees, 
Judas. And I. 
John. And I. 

James. And I. 

Andrew. And I. 

Obed. And I. 

Ada [to Jesus^. 

If my love drink of that cup, Master, I 

Must also drink. 
Jesus [rising^. 

The wine is waiting, friends. 

[He goes out to the gallery where the servants 
are grouped listening.^ 
Revellers. Ho ! he has gone to get us heady 

wine! 
Mary [following Jesus, speaks to the servants as 
she passes by^. 

Whatever he saith unto you, that do. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 89 

A Servant [to Mary']. 

Who would not minister to such a man? 

Jesus [to the servants in the gallery]. 
Fill up these jars with water. 

A Reveller [listening]. 

Water? — no, 
I want red wine. 

Judas [to Peter]. Now we shall have the sign! 

Peter. A miracle ! 

James. That will Messias do. 

Judas. Messias must work miracles. 

Philip [to Judas], 

How soon 
You have forgotten what our Master said — 
"An evil generation seeks for signs." 

Judas [passionately]. 

There must be miracles ! how otherwise 

Can people know he is Messias — come 

In majesty and like a King? This talk 

With drunken fellows is to cast a pearl 

. . . . ' 
To pigs — now we shall see him in his might. 

Guests [caught by the joy in the voice of Judas, 
rise at his words and turn to him]. 
Messias? 
Judas [leaving the table walks down to the plat- 
form] . 

Children of the Bridegroom, see — 
Now is he at the door ! 

[Jesus enters, followed by servants bearing 
flagons of water.] 



90 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Guests. The Carpenter! 

Jesus [approaching the Master of the Feast mho 
stands near Judas^. 
Master, I bring you wine caught from the sky. 
Master of the Feast [zvith a smile, takes a cup 
from a tray offered hy one of the servants 
who pours from a flagon'\. 
Our custom is to set the best wine first 
Before the guests. 
Judas \_turning to the guests^. 

A miracle! 
Peter {^starting from the table and running to- 
wards the Master of the Feast]. 

A sign ! 
The Rest of the Disciples {^following Peter]. 

Now shall you know our Lord. 
Revellers {^walking unsteadily towards the serv- 
ants who stand near the door with the 
flagons]. 

Give us the wine. 
Obed [fo Jesus]. 

Wine from the sky.'' Jesus, you play with 
words. 
Ada [to Jesus]. 

Where got you wine so quickly.'' 
Obed [fo Ada]. 

You forget 
We sent for it — our friend but plays with 
words. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 91 

Master of the Feast [holding up the cup he- 
fore all]. 

Now let jour cups be filled and drink the 
health 

Of Ada. 

l^As the servants pour into the proffered cups, 
murmurs of surprise run through the room]. 
Guests. Wine? 'tis water! 

Master of the Feast. Drink, my friends. 

[The Guests lift their cups to Ada.] 
Guests. Your health and happiness ! 
Ada [^hiding her face on Ohed's shoulder]. 

Oh, I am shamed! 
Judas [to Jesiis], 

Master! 
Simon. Where is the sign.'' 

Jesus [to hoth]. 

Look in the cup. 
Judas. Work now the miracle. 
Simon. Give us the sign. 

Jesus. Look in the cup. 

Judas. 'Tis only water there. 

Jesus. Henceforth the sign of Jesus — Son of 

Man! 
Judas [eagerly]. 

Nay, Master, you must break upon the world 

Brighter than any sun. A little cup 

Filled full of water surely is no sign. 
Jesus. Who gives a cup of water in my name 

Is my disciple. 



92 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Judas [^holding the cup to Jesiisl. 

Make the water wine, 
Then will the world know that you are the 
Christ. 

Simon. Ay, that's the thing to do, Lord, make it 
wine. 

Judas [fo the company^. 

Now shall you see Messias going forth 
Mantled with flame-gold like the morning sun ! 

Guests [liolding out their cups to Jesus^. 
If you are Lord Messias, make this wine ! 

Mary \^comvng close to Jesus and plucking his 
sleeve coaocingly^. 
Jesus Bar Joseph, make the water wine. 

Ada [fo Jesus^. 

Jesus of Mary, make the water wine. 

Philip [^indignantly to the rest^. 

Blind eyes, how can you miss the miracle 

Of Jesus' face — his eyes — his mouth — his voice? 

What do you hurting him with "Sign ! Sign ! 

Sign !"— 
Did he not come gold dusted of the stars 
And dewy from the night unto the feast? 
He is God's laughter and the love of men — 
The innocence and mirth of boys and maids — 
And yet you burden him with miracles ! 
Apollo and Adonis meet in him ; 
Bacchus transfigured, lifts a water cup 
And with a whitened hand sprinkles the earth 
Like summer rain. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 93 

\_Turning to Jesus.'\ 

O Carpenter, how long 
Must jou stand waiting for the faith that sees 
How any word or sight or touch of you 
Opens all doors that close on happiness ! 
Jesus \^joyously to Philip^^. 

Philip— O Philip! 
John [^caught hy Philip^s words, looks at Jesus^. 

Master, forgive your friends and me. 
Simon [^looMng at Jesus in wonderment as the 
sense of the new sign dawns on his mind^. 

Water — 
The sign of Jesus ? So the fisher folk 
Are called by him to cast their net for men ! 
Ada {beginning to understand, calls to a servant^. 
Give me a cup of this new wedding wino. 
{The servant bears a flagon to Obed who pours 
into a cup which he gives to Ada. She turns 
to the guests and holds high the cup^. 
Let it be told hereafter how the sign 
Was given at the Cana wedding feast — 
The sign of Jesus called the Son of Man 1 
Guests [holding their cups towards Jesus^. 
Hail, Jesu, Son of Man ! 
{They drink together. '\ 
Judas {dashing his cup to the floor^. 

I will not drink! 
Jesus. Judas ! 

Judas {going to the door and looking back^. 
I go to find INIessias. 



94 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Philip \^foUo'mng Judas, lays a hand on his shoul- 
derj. 

Hold! 
Judas [looking sadly at Philip^. 
I thought the Carpenter was he. 
Philip [gently^. 

O blind, 
Blind Man of Kerioth ! 
Judas [lifts up his hands in passionate pleading 
to Jesus^. 

Jesus Bar Joseph, 
Make me believe as you have made me love! 
Jesus. Judas ! 

[There is such joy in his word that Judas and 
Philip are unconsciously compelled to him. 
The guests whisper among themselves.^ 
Ada [to Obed]. 

To love is to believe. 
Judas [standing near Jesus and looking into his 
eyes'\. 

Master ! 
Jesus. What must Messias do.'' 
Judas. Make water wine. 

Stones bread ; leap from a temple pinnacle ; 
Strike every mocking mouth with miracles ; 
Call lightning from the clouds, until the yoke 
Upon our necks is broken and the land 
Set free from Rome. 
Jesus. I too was tempted, friend, 

By such a thought. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 95 

Judas. Did not the prophet say : 

"The anger of the Lord is on all nations, 
His fury on their armies"? That is Christ! 

Jesus. Also he saith: "He hath no comeliness — 
He is despised of men — a man of sorrows." 

Judas. Messias is a King — you make him slave. 

Jesus [his face transfigured hy his vision^. 
The slave of man ! 

Judas. We have enough of slaves — 

Man must be freed from bondage by a Lord 
Whose word will make all earthly fetters fall. 

Jesus. Only a slave can set man free. 

Judas [with anger showing in his voice^. 

A slave! 

Jesus. Who has no place to lay his head. 

Judas. You paint 

A thing less than a leper — called the Christ 

Jesus. He who will lift earth to the highest star 
Must make his hands meet underneath the load. 

Philip [with his old-time laughter^. 
O Hercules ! 

Judas. Do that, and men would nail 

Your hands together. — Jesus, I know men — 
You have dreamed over long among your tools — 
They are like horses to be tamed by bit 
And bridle, ready to be rode when one 
Has curbed them. 

Jesus. Men are all the sons of God, 

And God is love, and only love can speak 
With love. 



96 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Levi. So love found me. 

Thomas \^entermg and hearing, cries, as he runs 

to Jesus' feet^. 

As love found me! 
Ada [to Obed]. 

Was ever love like this at any feast? 
Judas. Love will not save the world from Roman 

hate, 
And we must groan beneath Tiberius 
Until Messias come with miracles. 
[Going towards the door.^ 
I will run round the earth and back again, 
Calling and calling over every hill, 
Until the sky grow weary of my voice 
And rain down stars in answer to my prayer. 
These hands will beat against the gates of God 
Until they open with a fiery flood 
Of ruin and of wrath on Babylon. 
Yea, I will call to every thunder cloud : 
"Break forth with lances of consuming light, 
And let them be for signs that Christ is come !" 
[He goes out in passion from the room. The 

eyes of all are turned on Jesus who stands 

with outward looking eyes as though upon 

the world. ^ 



ACT IV 

Scene. — Lake Shore near Capernaum. Six months 
later. Early morning of a late spring clay. 

The bacKground is a perspective of the 
town — a tista of square houses of basalt or 
Syenian granite, and, on higher ground, the 
marble dome of a great synagogue. Behind 
the town are sloping fields of white, red, blue 
and purple anemones with patches of mus- 
tard plants — the dark green leaves making 
vivid their yellow blossoms. The fields melt 
into hills of olive groz^es intersected by vine- 
yards, with groups of pomegraiiates and 
palms. 

A wide road curves along the edge of the 
town, lifted above the shore of the lake by a 
low wall of basalt, to the right past a broad 
quay that juts into the water. Above the 
quay is a store room with a wide door in the 
centre and over it a window with closed shut- 
ters. At the juncture of this building and 
the road is a seat of customs — a ledge of 
marble behind a large oaken table. 

At intervals along the wall there are wide 
stone steps descendiiig to the shore from the 
97 



98 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

road. On the left of the scene there is a 
house above the wall with a court — the house 
of Simon. In the court is a garden of melons 
and cucumbers. Through the crevices of the 
wall are masses of cyclamen. 

The foreground is the shore of the lalie of 
Galilee, shaped like an amphitheatre, reach- 
ing down at a considerable distance to the 
front. Along the sand are several small fish- 
ing boats held upright on their keels by poles 
against the gunwales. Large drag-nets are 
spread along the sand, drying. 

From the city is heard the faint hum of 
voices. Along the road pass and repass cam- 
els and asses with panniers of fruit, wool, 
dried fish and other commodities. Men, 
women and children go by. Sailors are busy 
on the quay with bales of merchandise. At 
the seat of customs Levi receit'es the taxes. 
Simon, below his house, sits on the sand with 
James and Andrew, mending nets. 

Sailors. Yo-e-o! Yo-e-o! 

Camel Drivers. 

Wind of the south, 
Blow on the mouth — 
The mouth of my love; 
Wind of the west, 
Blow on the breast — 
The breast of my dove ! 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 99 

Sailors. Yo-e-o ! Yo-e-o ! 
Muleteers. 

In Galilee, in Galilee, 
The melon gourds are gold. 
Wild honey of the humble bee, 
The olive and the apple tree. 
The sheep within the fold, 
Make every moment bliss to me 
In Galilee, in Galilee. 
Sailors. Yo-e-o ! Yo-e-o ! 

[^ burst of laughter from the street and then 
a throng of children running down the steps 
to the boats where they play at hide-and- 
seek. '\ 
Simon \1ioldinq up a mended net and trying the 
meshes with his hands^. 
The world is all awake. 
James \_filling a shuttle with twine from a reeT\. 

And children play. 
Children {^singing among the boats^.' 
Catch me, catch me, if you can — 
Ugly, old and ragged man ! 
While we run we laugh and shout — 
One — two — three — and you are out! 
Levi [taking change from a Camel Driver"]. 

One stater more. 
Camel Driver [throwing a coin on the table]. 

Plague on your taxes, man ! 
Muleteer [flipping a piece of money at Lem\. 
Mine is a shekel, publican.? 



100 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Levi [^looking at the panniers^. 

Raisins ? 
Muleteer. And figs. 
Levi. Whither ? 

Muleteer. Jerusalem. 

Levi. Pass on. 

l^From the road at left a lame man with 
crutches pauses at the seat of customs.] 
Lame Man [^o Levi]. 

Sir, may I rest.'' 
Levi [^kindli/]. 

Sit here, friend. 
Lame Man [placing his crutches against the wall, 
sits on the bench]. 

I thank you. 
Levi \^counti7ig money into little heaps before 
him]. 
Are you not early on the road? 
Lame IVL^n.^ Sun's up, 

And day has its adventures. 
Levi. Whence are you.'' 

Lame Man [laughing]. 

From nowhere to nowhither. 
Levi. Do you beg.'' 

Lame Man. I am too lame to work, and one must 

eat. 
Levi [handing to him a number of small leather 
bags]. 
This for the shekels, those for staters — work! 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 101 

Lame Man \^taJdng the bags and looking with 
surprise at Levi\. 
You trust mc? I am light of finger, friend. 
Levi. Your eyes have answered me. 
Lame Man [^counting money into the hags.'\ 

You questioned them? 
Levi. One learns much from the many passing 

here. 
Sailors, Yo-e-o ! Yo-e-o ! 

Children. Ugly, old and ragged man ! 
Lame Man \loohing up and watching the chil- 
dren^ . 
Ugly, and old and ragged? — I am that. 
Levi. Only outside. 

Lame Man. And what is there within? 

Levi \^tying up the bags that the other fills'\. 
The soul — the beautiful, the laughing soul. 
Lame Man. There is no soul — only the flesh that 

limps. 
Levi. Ay, you will limp until you find your 
soul — 
Then you will throw away your crutches, man. 
Simon [^stretching his arms^. 

Toiling all night for fish we did not find, 
Burdens my body. 
Andrew [looking up from his net and watching 
the children play^. 

One must toil for them. 
Children. While we run we laugh and shout — 
One, two, three, and you are out! 



102 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

James. Where is the Master? 
Simon. Hunting his lost sheep. 

Andrew. Judas ? 
Simon. Ay. 

James. Better let him go. 

Simon. He'll not — 

Never was there such folding of a flock — 
He'll seek until he find that wanderer. 
l^Among the people on the street, Jesus is seen 
walking with Judas, Philip, John, and Na- 
thaniel; they approach Lezi and the Lame 
Man.] 
Lame Man [liolding up his crutches]. 

Throw these away ? 
Levi. When you have found 3'our soul. 

Lame Man. My soul? Man, I have been a thief, 
a dog 
Hunting for offal in a village street ! 
Levi. And alwaj^s have j^ou been a Son of God. 
Lame Man. Who taught you this? 
Levi. Jesus, the Carpenter. 

[Levi bends over the money. The Lame Man, 
looking up, sees Jesus among the crowd, 
drawing near.] 
Lame Man. Who comes with eyes of laughter 

and of love? 
Levi [gazing down the street]. 

My Carpenter ! 
Lame Man [gathering his crutches]. 

He must not find me here — 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH lOa 

Those eyes will shame me, knowing what I am. 
Levi [laughing as he puts his arm around the 
other^s shoulderl. 

foolish fellow ! he is not the man 

To shame you — he will help you find your soul. 
Jesus [approaching the seat of customs with the 
others^. 
Levi ! 
Levi [rising from the table and spilling the money 
from a bag to the pavement'\. 
Hail, Carpenter! 
Jesus. Come, follow me. 

Levi. Whither, O Carpenter.'' 
Jesus. Across the world. 

Levi [laughing^. 

Faith; 'tis a journey. 
Jesus. And the road is good. 

Lame Man [looling earnestly at Jesus with grow- 
ing confdence'\. 

1 love the road, though I am very lame. 
Jesus [reaching forth a hand to the lame wan]. 

Love of the road will make you leap for joy. 
Lame Man. With crutches one walks painfully 

the miles. 
Jesus. Come, friend, and I will make your 

crutches wings. 
Lame Man. Levi, let fall the money — we will go. 
Levi. And going, find your soul? 
Lame Man [laughingly. 

If there be such 



104 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

I'll find it where the wayside banks are green. 
Jesus. Now we will gather Simon and the rest. 
[They descend the steps near the seat of cus- 
toms and cross the sands towards the fisher- 
men, talking as they go.^ 
Muleteers [in fragment of their song^. 
The sheep within the fold, 
Make every moment bliss to me 
In Galilee, in Galilee. 
Sailors. Yo-e-o ! Yo-e-o ! 

[Simon's hoy — tanned and strong, with hlack 
curly hair and eyes aglow with fun — runs up 
to Jesus with outstretched hands.^ 
Boy. One, two, three and you are out ! 
Jesus [opening his arms and catching him to his 
breast]. 
Ho, little man ! 
Children [clutching at the robe of Jesus], 

Come play, dear Carpenter. 
Judas [impatiently to the children]. 

You must not hinder him. 
Children [pointing at Judas], 

O scowlly man ! 
Jesus [with Simon's boy on his shoulder]. 

Suffer the little children come to me. 
Children [making a song at Judas], 

Catch us, catch us, if you can — 
Scowlly, scowlly, scowlly man ! 
Judas. But, Master, there is work to do and these 
Keep us from it. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 105 

[Simon and the others look up and seeing Jesus 
among the children leap from their nets and 
run to him.^ 
Simon. Master ! 

Jesus [kissing the eyes of Simon's boy]. 

Of such is heaven ! 

Philip [to Judas]. 

Have you not yet his secret? 

Judas [to Philip]. 

I am torn 

Between my love of him and deepening doubt! 

[He turns away from the rest and walks mood- 
ily doxrni the shore.] 
Simon [with Andrew and James at Jesus' side]. 

Master, we've waited weeks for you to come. 
Jesus [with a glad, welcoming smile]. 

Simon, there are so many sheep to fold! 
Simon [looking at Judas, turns with a deep 
laugh]. 

You brought the black one home. 
Jesus. A shepherd leaves 

His folded flock and seeks until he find 

The lost lamb. So must you care for the sheep. 
Simon. Master, I understand, and I am glad 

For Judas ; though he puzzles still and frown. 
Jesus. Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way 

That leads into the Kingdom of my joy, 

And few there be that find it. 
Simon. We have found 

And we will follow faithful on the way. 



106 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Jesus. Simon Bar Jonas, may you never fail. 
Simon ^stretching his arms in the conscious joy 
of his strength^. 
Fail?— Simon fail? Not he ! 
Jesus [a momenfs sadness on his face^. 

Satan will sift 
Each man of you for chafF among your wheat. 
[^As he looks at the children and out on the 
world, the sadness lifts and is gone before a 
divine mirth that glorifies his mouth.^ 
But he will find you mostly ripened wheat. 
Children. Jesus, dear Jesus, sit upon the sand 

To play with us. 
Judas [^returning, speaks to Jesus^. 

Is it not time to go? 
Jesus [sitting on a rock near a boat, beckons the 
children to his feet'\. 
Time? Ah, you are so anxious of the time! 
*Here, where the children laugh, the infinite 
Makes me forgetful of your many morrows. 
[The disciples sit near Jesus, leaving an open 
space for the children at his feet.^ 
A Little Girl [holding up to Jesus a lump of 
clay^ . 
Jesus, make me a bird ! 
Jesus [taking the clay from her hand and begin- 
ning to shape it with swift fingers^. 

What kind of bird? 
Little Girl [after a momenfs hesitation^. 
Make it a dove. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 107 

Simon's Boy [^watching Jesus^. 

Jesus, make it a hawk. 
Jesus [as the shape of a bird grows under his 
fingers^. 
We need more clay to make a hawk. 
Children [clapping their hands as the bird form 
grows out of the claj/J. 

See ! see ! 
Little Girl [her eyes big with excitement^. 

Oh, make the wings wide. 
Simon's Boy. And then it will fly. 

Simon [smiting his hnee with his fist^. 
Master, if fishes could be made from sand, 
We would no more go toiling with the net. 
Jesus [giving wings to the clat/l. 

Simon, the joy is only in the task — 
What would you do with days removed from 
work.'' 
Simon. Right there, my Master, for one Sabbath 
day 
Of idling in and out of synagogues 
Makes me a hungry ox hitched to a post. 
Nathaniel. Jesus, I do not like a synagogue. 
Jesus [smiling back^. 

Nathaniel, you pray best beneath a tree, 

And I upon a hill 

Simon. I in a boat 



John [watching the upturned faces of the chil- 
dren^ . 
And I with children. 



108 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Philip. I on country roads. 

Judas. I could pray best among a host of shields 
Beating a highway out of Roman spears 
For Israel — not making birds from clay. 

Jesus. Impatient Judas. 

Judas. Master, let us go. 

Jesus. And leave the children.'' 

Children. Jesus, stay with us. 

Jesus [^tenderly^. 

My little ones, always you are with me. 
[To the disciples.^ 

It would be better for a man to leap 
Into the lake — a millstone round his neck — 
Rather than harm one of these little ones 
Believing me. 

Philip \^mth laughter to Judas^. 

So, Judas, be a child. 

Judas [^bitterli/'\. 

With all this man's work waiting to be done, 
How can we tarry on a beach in dream? 

Jesus. Judas, tell me who have done most for 
men — 
The lad with many-coloured coat of dreams 
Or they who sold him unto Ishmael.'^ 
[^Jiidas is silent. ^ 

Philip. The minstrels and the dreamers of the 
world 
From Orpheus until now have always harped 
To stones that did not know what made them 
dance — 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 109 

The stones that leap on dreamers to their 
death ! 
Jesus. And only they who harp can make stones 

bread. 
Thomas. Master, take up your harp and make 

men bread. 
Jesus. Thomas, I have a harp — these are the 
strings. 
l^He points to the children.^ 
Thomas. What is the harp? 
Jesus. All they Avho follow me. 

Philip. And what the song? 

Jesus. The Song of Brotherhood. 

\^He Jiolds up the finished clay before the chil- 
dren.^ 
Children [clapping their handsl. 

Now make it fly. 
Judas [#o Jesus^. 

Even the children plead 
For signs ! 
Jesus [fo the children^. 

Nay, children, you must make it fly. 
Children [a* Jesus covers the bird with his left 
hand pointing to the sky with his right^. 
We will — we will! 

[They follow his hand with eager, laughing, up- 
turned faces and pointing fingers^. 

The sun shines on its wings ! 
There is another — and another — see, 
The sky is full of wliite and feathered wings ! 



110 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Thomas [looking into the ski/^. 

I do not see them. 
Judas [to JesusJi. 

It is in your hand. 

Jesus. I only made for them a bird of clay 

Judas. A bird of clay? that is no sign. 
Jesus [looking at the childrenl. 

A sign.'' 
Lo, it is there — the gift of dream that turns 
Earth into swift and upward flight of birds ! 
Be as the children, Judas, and the world 
Will break forth into laughter at your voice, 
Heaven will come down and God will walk again 
In man's lost garden. 

[He gives the dove to the little girl, who walks 
away with it up the shore, followed hy the 
others, except Simon^s hoy, who stands at 
Jesus* knee, looking up into his face.^ 
Simon's Boy [to Jesus^. 

Now make me a hawk. 
Jesus [to the boy^. 

Have you the clay.? 
Simon's Boy. I have a piece of wood — 

Make me a boat. 

[He takes a piece of wood from the girdle of his 

tunic and gives it to Jesus.'] 

Jesus. Simon, give me your knife. 

[Simon takes a sheath-knife from his belt ana 

hands it to Jesus, who begins to whittle at 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 111 

the wood — tJie hoy watching hitn, or stooping 
down to play with the shavings that fall at 
Jesus^ feet.^ 
Sailoks. Yo-e-o ! Yo-e-o ! 
Children \^at a distance near the wall^. 
Fly away, dove, 
Fly away, dove! 
Carry a kiss 
To the one I love. 
[^The sun is higher in the heaven, and the street 
is filled Tenth people. There are cries of driv- 
ers, sounds of many voices in laughter or 
salutation or anger. ^ 
Lame Man {watching the boat take shape in 
Jesus^ hands^. 
Give me a blade and I will make a mast. 
Andrew {drawing his hnife from its sheathl. 
Here. 

\_He gives the knife to the Lame J/a«.] 
Lame Man [stooping to take a piece of drift 
wood from the sand^. 
This will do. 
[He whittles the wood.^ 
Jesus [looking up from his work at the lame 
man^. 

You are a carpenter.'* 
Lame Man. I have tried all trades. Lord, and 

mastered none. 
Jesus. If you will work with me you shall become 
A Master. 



112 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Lame Man. Lord, I broke this leg upon 

A scaffold — then no man had need of me. 
Jesus. But I have need of you. 
Lame Man [laughingl. 

A sorry thing 

Am I to minister to any man. 
Jesus. If you will follow me the lame shall walk 

The lighter for your word. 
Judas \^eagerli/ to Jesus^. 

Will he have power 

To make a cripple walk when he is lame.'' 

Let him be healed. 
Jesus [^o Judas^. 

Judas, you seek a sign.'' 
Judas [imploringly^. 

O Master ! Make the lame man leap and walk, 

Then will the world believe that you are Christ. 
Jesus. Am I the Christ.? 
Judas. Lord, you have said; but oh, 

You tarry over long to give a sign. 
Jesus. If I can mr.ke this lame man teach the 
lame 

To bear the burden of infirmity, 

Finding their crutches wings of lifting joy, 

Would that not be a sign? 
Judas. The world is weak — 

So weak, and waits the sudden hand of God 

In some arresting sign to give it faith. 
Jesus. There are no sudden signs of God. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 113 

Judas. The wind 

Out of the desert pouring down the hills ; 
The lash of lightning curling from the cloud ; 
The devastation of a locust blight ; 
Surely are sudden signs direct from God. 

Jesus. These are but angels of the air and earth, 
Lifters of trumpets calling man to war 
Wherein he learns life's purpose — mastery. 

Judas. But think of death that strikes the strong 
man down, 
Leaving his wife and children, or a bride 
Of yesterday ; think of the fatherless 
And all the lonely little ones who weep ; 
Are these not signs — is evil not a sign — 
Are grief, and pain, and sickness, not a sign — 
Signs that are sudden from the hand of God.? 

Jesus. All these were ever in the plan of God — 
Waves to be breasted till the swimmer grows 
Buoyant above them — hills for stronger 

thews — 
Heights that are set for half unfolded wings. 
He who would follow me must take his cross — 
Not shrink from it nor seek to lay it down. 

Lame Man \^with joy of self -discovery in 7iis 
voice^ . 
Lord, I will follow you on crutches ! 

Jesus [^mith his hand on the Lame Man's shoul- 
der^. 

Come! 



114 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Simon's Boy [^ciapping his hands']. 

The boat is made ! 
Jesus \liolding out his hand to the Lame Man]. 
Now we will step the mast. 
\^He takes the mast and fits it in the boat.] 
Simok's Boy. A leaf shall be the sail. 

\^He runs towards the children still playing up 
the shore.] 
Simon {looking at the Boy and laughing]. 

And sand the sea ! 
Give him a twig and he will make a forest — 
A blade of grass and he's a trumpeter. 
Philip. Yet Judas asks a sign ! Give me the sign 
Of childhood in a triumph over tears. 
[The crowd begins to gather from the road un- 
til the shore is filled with people drawing near 
to Jesu^.] 
Voices \jrom the crowd]. 
Where is he? 

There. 

Down by the boat.? 

'Tis he- 
Talking with Simon Peter and the rest. 

And does he heal the sick? 

Yes. 

No. 

Yes. 

No. 
Is any hurt among us? 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 115 

There is one — 
Possessed of devils. 

Careful ! she will tear 
You with her teeth. 

Not now — wait till her eyes 
Roll and her teeth gnash. 

There was a leper — 

A Leper? No, he could not cleanse a leper. 

He could — did he not turn the water wine 
At Cana? 

Yes. 

A rumour! 

No, 'tis true. 
[The disciples gather about Jesus as the crowd 
draws nearer.^ 
Judas. Master, they seek a sign. 
Voices. He waits for us. 

How comely is his hair. 

Like russet gold 
On autumn apples. 

He is like a king. 

His eyes are like cornflowers in the sun. 

David before Goliath looked like him. 

Come, let us weave for him a crown 
Of laurel and of lilies. 



116 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Wait his word — 
A voice that is the sound of little waves 
Falling on golden sand along the shore. 
\_At the note of a wailing cry, as from the 
throat of a hurt animal, the crowd shrink 
back against the wall.^ 
Make way for her — 'tis Mary Magdalene ! 
^From the crowd Mary stands, her beautiful 
face distorted and her hair dishevelled.^ 
Mary. Fools to be so deluded by this man ! 
Judas [running to her^. 

Mary! 
Mary [gazing vacantly at him, begins to latigh 
wildly'] . 

I know you not. 
Judas [reaching forth to take her hand]. 

Come, follow me. 
Mary [resisting him]. 

Nay, Marah is my name — called bitterness. 
Voices. Is not that Judas? 

Ay, he loved her once; — 
They were to wed. 
Mary. Your hand is hot on mine — 

Are you a stake — I burning for a witch? 
[She screams and falls on the sand.] 
Voices. Now are the devils come tormenting her. 

If Jesus be Messias, he will speak, 
Calling the devils out of her. 
Judas [kneeling to lift Mary from the sand^. 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 117 

Rise up, 

My love. 

[He lifts her m his arms and carries her down 
to where Jesus stands.^ 
Voices. Watch now and see what he will do. 

Judas [still holding Mary in his arms, stands be- 
fore Jesus'}. 
Master, behold the woman whom I left 
To follow you! 

[Mari/ is quiet in his arms — her eyes rolled 
back in a cataleptic fit.'] 
jj-gus. Lay her upon the sand. 

[Judas places Mary at Jesus' feet, who looks 
down at her.] 
Voices. What will he do ? 
Jesus [in a low voice]. 

My little sister, wake 

And look on me! 

[Mary stirs like a sleeping child and moans as 
in pain.] 
Voices [the crowd drawing near, some almost at 
Jesus' side]. 

If he restore her 

Judas [with wonder in his eyes gazes down at 

Mary] . 

Lord! 

Jesus. Mary of Magdala, who loved so much, 
Open your eyes, forgetful of your pain. 
[Mary begins to talk in broken sentences.] 



118 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Mary. I am a woman — love me — that is Christ! 
Judas. O Master, see how I have hurt her heart! 
Philip \_xefith his great love of Mary transfigur- 
ing his face^. 
A man's love is too rough and rude a thing 
For God's red flower called a woman's heart. 
Jesus [^zmth a voice that rises like a sudden wind 
among the trees — a sound that brings the 
multitudes and the disciples to their knees^. 
Mary of Magdala, your Master calls ! 
\^At his voice, Mary^s eyes open on Jesus. 
From their blue depths there is infinite un- 
derstanding blent with joy.l^ 
Mary. I heard my mother call! 
Judas [ow his knees at her side and taking her 
hand^. 

All mothers call 
With Jesus' voice. 
Mary {^supported on the shoulder of Judasl^. 

Judas, have we not found 
Christ in a garden .f* 
Judas [exultantly lifts Mary to her feet and with 
his arm about her waist faces the kneeling 
people^. 

Men, behold the sign — 
The sign of Jesus Christ the Son of God! 



ACT V 

Scene. — Before the garden of Gethsemane. Two 
years later. The night of the betrayal of 
Jesus. 

An ivy-covered wall of rough stone extends 
across the rear of the scene which is filled by 
a grove of olives. Within the wall at centre 
is a gate. At right and left are olive trees 
through which a road winds past the garden. 
At the left of the gate, against the wall, is 
a large stone olive press over which a tree 
from the garden extends its branches. Below 
the road to the front is a field of wild flowers 
and berry bushes. The paschal moon is visi- 
ble above the trees of the garden and, as the 
act progresses, slowly climbs a sky of many 
stars. 

In the moonlight every detail of the scene 
is outlined with a silvery glow that gives a 
fairy charm to the garden. 

Seated at the olive press, or lying on tJie 
grass, are some of the disciples and, among 
them, Philip, Thomas, Andrew, BartimcBus, 
Levi and the Lame Man. 

119 



120 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Thomas \^at the olive press^. 

My heart is heavy, for the Master's face 

Was white with sorrow when he entered there. 
Levi \^rhing from the grass and going to the gate 
•where he stands looking over it J. 

Why did he leave us lonely at the gate? 
Bartim^us [af the olive press, leaning forward 
with his hands clasped on his staff^. 

Is the gate open? I can only feel 

How soft the moonlight falls among the leaves. 
Thomas. The gate is closed on silence. 
Bartim^us. I can hear 

Low laughter of the leaves. 
Thomas [^listening^. 

It is the brook 

Running to tell the olive trees that Christ 

Prays in a garden. 
Bartim^us [^holding up a hand uncertainly^. 

Is there not a wind? 
Thomas [plucking a leaf from a vine on the 
wall^ . 

Not so much as to stir this leaf of vine. 
Andrew \_to Bartimceus']. 

An angel brushed you with a wing. 
Lame Man. What peace 

Is on this place! 
Philip. Within all garden walls 

Peace walks with Christ. 
Lame Man. As on a summer road. 

Philip. Why not a winter one? 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 121 

Lame Man [^laughing^. 

'Tis all the same — 

His feet would make the frost — vines, and the 
snow — 

White lilies. 
Bartim^us. I can smell the cyclamen. 

Lame Man. There must be honeysuckle on the 

wall. 
Andrew. Why did not Judas go within the gar- 
den.? 
Thomas. Something is on liis mind. 
Levi. He walks alone 

Of late, frowning and talking to himself. 
Lame Man [angrili/']. 

'Tis he who made the Master's face so white 

With sorrow. 
Andrew. Always has there been a point 

Of difference between the two. 
Levi. And yet 

Jesus has ever leaned on Judas. 
Andrew. Ay, 

But something happened at the paschal feast 

That sunders them. 
Lame Man. And Jesus grieves for that. 

Philip. What did he mean by saying — "One of 
you 

Betrays me".'' 
Bartim^us. Every one who sits to learn 

Betrays his teacher 'til he is a master. 



122 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Philip. And we arc very dull — and so betray? 
Blind man, how well you see! and that is all 
The Master meant? 

Thomas. Ay, only thus betray 

Beauty, goodness, and truth by failing them — 
So far beyond the reach of earthly hands. 

Lame JVIan. I know what happened at the feast. 

Philip. Tell us. 

Lame Man. Judas is yet beneath the tyranny 
Of signs and wonders — fails to see that Christ 
Came unto men to make them reconciled 
With life — and frets the Master with his plea: 
"The people need a sign." 

Bartim^us. Two years have passed 

Since Jesus gave the Magdalene her mind 
And blessed their love, yet Judas asks a sign ! 

Philip. There is a kind of man to whom the 
world 
Is like a crust of black, abandoned bread 
Found by a beggar who is forced to eat 
Or starve, and so asks honey thickly spread 
To hide the taste from his too dainty tongue. 

Lame Man. No one has learned of Jesus till he 
find 
The taste of life most wonderfully sweet. 

Philip. Life is a comb of honey to the taste — 
If it be bitter, then the tongue is coated 
With gall of anger or the love of self. 

Andrew. Life is not sweet to Judas. 



THE jVIAN of KERIOTH 123 

Philip. So he seeks 

Signs and more signs to make it to his taste. 
Andrew. His tongue is coated then.'' 
Philip. Aj, with the gall 

Of anger. He who hates as Judas hates, 
Makes life a crust of black and bitter bread — 
Hate always is revealed in asking signs. 
Thomas. But surely, Philip, one ma}^ hate the 
man 
Who ravishes a wife and slays her child? 
Philip [rising and walking to and fro before the 
olive press — his face transfigured with the 
ecstasy of his vision^. 
Life is a test of love before the face 
Of all that is unlovely, evil, vile; 
And he becomes a master who withstands 
Temptation to unloose the tongue of hate. 
Prevailing through the godhood of a smile ! 
Such is our glad, divine, dear Carpenter — 
One smile of Jesus is the sign of signs 
And more than any marvel. 
l[After a pause.^ 

We must win 
The world through love and laughter and pro- 
claim 
With joy the coming of the Son of Man. 
Lame Man. When Christ comes from the garden 
we will take 
Him by the hand and go upon all roads 



124 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Shouting our secret: "Joy is now the sign 
Of man's redemption !" 
Bartim^us. Then the white will fade 

From Jesus' face, when he finds we are strong 
And ready for the road ! 
All {^rising and standing near the gate']. 

The road ! the road ! 
Philip. Come, let us walk a while till Jesus comes 

Out of the garden. 
Bartim^us. I sit here and wait. 

l^The others go out at right through the trees. 
The blind man sits in quiet reverie as though 
listening to little, inaudible sounds. The 
moonlight shines down upon his face from a 
cloudless shy. In a sweet, gentle voice he 
begins to croon a song.] 

Little boy Jesus, 
Tell what you are — 
Moondrift and white cloud 
Caught on a star! 

Little boy Jesus, 
What did you see? 
Berries and blossoms 
In Galilee ! 

Little boy Jesus, 
Where did you go? 
Down by the Jordan 
Watching it flow! 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 125 

Little boy Jesus, 
What is your will? 
Wood for a cradle 
On a green hill. 

\^Mart/ Magdalene comes dozen the road at left, 
stealing soffit/, intent on the song; as it ends 
she approaches Bartima'us.J 
Mary. Blind man, where did you learn that 

cradle song.'' 
Bartim^us. I passed a stable long ago and 
heard 
A mother sing. 
Mary. Where, blind man? 

Bartim^us. Bethlehem — 

I was one of those shepherds on the hill 
To whom an angel sang. 
Mary \_sitting at his side^. 

What did you see? 
Bartim^us. a golden star hung like a lamp 
within 
A rift of cloud. 
Mary. And then? 

Bartim^us. a luminous 

Glad face below the star. 
Mary. Lord Gabrielle! 

Bartim^us. The angel of all mothers, Magda- 
lene. 
Mary. You were not always blind? 



126 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

BAETiMiEus. A shadow came 

Between the sun and me not many months 

After the star; but first I saw the babe! 

Then Bartimjeus had no further need 

Of eyes, who had beheld the holy child. 
Mary. Where is the Master? 
Bartimjsus. In Gethsemane. 

Why are you here.'' 
Mary. I wait for Judas. 

Bartim^eus. He 

Went not with the disciples — Magdalene, 

I fear for Judas. 
Mary [^bitterly^. 

Oh, these aching months 

Of pleading and of prayer to turn him back 

From what he means to do ! 
Bartim^us. The Master knows — 

The others only wonder, watch and wait. 
Mary. He is in fellowship with Caiaphas, 

Plotting to prove that Jesus is the Christ. 
Bartim^us. Mary, the Master knows — be not 
afraid — 

No harm can come to him from any man. 
Mary. But harm may come to Judas — hurt of 
soul 

That will forever mar the man I love. 
Bartim^eus. Then you must love him all the 
more — how else 

Can souls be saved? 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 127 

Mary. O Bartlmaeus, you 

Of all men first made me aware of Christ 
That day down by the Jordan when you sang — 
Now you must teach me how to keep this man 
From harm. 

Bartim^us. Keep watch, and when you see him 
near, 
Lead me within the garden; but meanwhile, 
Tell me what Judas ponders in his heart. 

Mary. First hear my story : after Judas found 
His friend and Master near Bethabara, 
I was hot anger and a vengeful flame 
Upon the man who robbed me of my love. 
Day followed day and night came after night, 
Until, so lonely and bereft of joy. 
My thoughts were tangled in the purple web 
Of sorrow, and I raved across the fields, 
Along the roads, filling the villages 
With maledictions on all love, until 
The people whispered: "Mary is possessed 
Of devils !" Then I heard a voice that said : 
"My little sister, look on me !" First peace — 
Peace I have sometimes glimpsed down dim ra- 
vines 
Of vineyards, ere the dew has left the dawn — 
Peace I have fancied on a baby's face 
Pillowed upon the breast, or found above 
Eyes that are heavy with the dream of death — 
Then like a swimmer rising from the pool 



128 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Down which he dived, reason returned to 

breathe 
Within its element so lately left, 
So proudly spurned, so gladly won again. 
Yea, I was borne upon the balanced wings of 

peace, 
Like any bird a-homing through the heavens, 
Up, up into the blue of Jesus' eyes ! 

Bartim^us. I saw them with the shepherds when 
we found 
Him lying in a manger! 

Mary. Thdn I knew 

That all the love of earth through all the years 
Of loving, since a woman's mouth began 
To stir men out of slumber into song. 
Was met in Jesus' eyes, and he the bride 
And he the groom forever at the door. 

Bartim^eus. Mary, you have learned Christ! 

Mary. But this I found: 

A world not ready for this lover-man, 
Confusing him with images of clay 
On temple tables, seeking for a sign — 
A manifesting of his power — his power! 
God ! how the stupid people miss the path 
That winds past every garden gate to heaven. 
His power! Oh, it is upon his mouth 
And in his eyes — the touch — the way of him! 
Supreme and tender miracle of man. 
What do they, asking you for any sign? 

Bartim^us. Ay, you know Christ! 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 129 

Mary. And of these foolish men, 

Judas is first. Oh, what has blinded him 
That he can miss the sun on Jesus' hair! 
Bartim^us. He pays the price strong men must 
pay on whom 
The fretting business of the world depends. 
Listen — a parable of four men, told 
By Persian Magi: "When God made the world 
Four angels watched him turn the star in 

space — 
The first said : Give to me, God, thy star ! 
The second : Tell me, God, how it was made ! 
The third: Why is there any world at all? 
The fourth knelt to adore and went away 
To make another like God's golden star." 
These souls are known in human history: 
The man of business, then the scientist. 
The sage and poet. Judas is the first. 
And we the last — only as men rise up 
From holding and accounting for a star 
To that pure worship of the beautiful 
In holy art of giving like the Christ's, 
Will they no longer clamour for a sign — 
The sign will be the service of their love. 
Mary. The way to Christ must be as you have 
said — 
Past any need that holds one bound by love 
Of builded things and faith in ancient law. 
Customs and forms. A spirit must be free 
To tread the upper air of day with him. 



130 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

Bartim^us. Ay, that is Christ, but men must 
travel far 
Before they find the freedom of his feet. 
Meanwhile, what now of Judas? 
Mary. I have learned 

That he, impatient of the Master's way, 
Will force the issue with a company 
Of swordmen from the garrison, this night 
Here in the garden of Gethsemane ! 
Bartim.eus l^horror stricken, rises from the olive 
press and tries to find his way to the gate 
with his staff ^. 
Satan has entered his heart! 
Mary {^overtaTiing him, guides him through the 
gate^. 

Go, find 
The Master — Judas must not do this thing — 
I will wait for him at the gate. 
\_She stands within the gate, watching Bar- 
timaus, who disappears among the trees, 
tapping with his staff to find the way.'\ 
Bartim^us. Master ! 

YMary shuts the gate and stands looking doxtm 
the road at left, whence come the murmur 
of voices and the glimmer of torches.^ 
Mary. They come ! 

\^She turns and calls after Bartim(EusJ\ 

Oh, tell the Master that they come \ 
There is a gate within the western wall — 
Tell him to go that way ! 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 131 

Bartim.eus [from a distance'\. 

Master! Master! 
[Judas appears, followed at a distance hy a 
hand of soldiers and a company of priests, 
levites and men from Jerusalem. They move 
quietly and speak in subdued tones. At a 
sign from Judas they halt, while he draws 
near to Mary.~\ 
Mary [standing before the closed gates, faces 
Judasl^. 
Judas, why are you here with all these men? 
Judas [sternly^. 
Woman, aside! 
Mary. I am the bolt that bars 

You from an evil. 
Judas. Woman, stand aside ! 

Mary. You shall not enter here. 
Judas [pointing to the distant company^. 

Let these men pass! 
Mary [passionatelyJi. 

Now in the name of God, I stand! 
Judas [earnestly^. 

Mary! 
Mary. By every moment of our love, I swear 

You shall not enter in ! 
Judas. And by the tears 

Of Israel, I pray you stand aside ! 
Mary. If you but place your hand upon the gate, 
My hand will pluck the love you planted here. 
Up by the roots and throw it in your face ! 



132 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

JiTDAS. Love, life, faith, hope, joy, you — all that 
I have 
Are staked on this last venture of my soul. 
Mary. Go through this gate and you have lost 

your soul! 
Judas. You tax my patience — woman, stand 
aside — 
Time and eternity are met to prove 
The moment of my deed — if he be Christ, 
Then ere the moon hides in that coming cloud 
The angels will descend, the dead rise up, 
To meet our Master. Mine alone the faith, 
The love, to lift him forthwith on his throne! 
So let these pass. 
Mary [^stretching her arms along the gate^. 

Love nails me to a cross 
To guard his gate. 
Judas [to the captain of the hand^. 

Advance ! 
Mary [as the soldiers move up, followed by the 
others^. 

Master, they come — 
[Judas leaps forward and seizes her, placing 
his hand over her mouth, and draws her 
struggling body aside as the soldiers and the 
crowd rush through the gate. In the agony 
of her moment Mary swoons. Judas takes 
her to the olive press and lays her tenderly 
thereon.^ 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 133 

Jtjdas [with tears^. 

Oh, my bruised blossom out of Magdala ! 
[He swiftly joins the company in the garden. 
For a while there is heard the sound of foot- 
steps softened by the leaves, and the torches 
recede more and more among the trees until 
they twinkle like fireflies. The moonlight 
falls on Mary's pallid face and hair that 
hangs in the glory of its abundance over the 
ledge of the olive press. She stirs and slowly 
rising, looks vacantly about her. Her mind 
is once more affected by sorrow. She forgets 
that Judas has entered the garden to betray 
Jesus. Sitting on tlve ledge of the olive press 
she begins to arrange her hair, braiding it as 
she sings in a little, soft voice like that of a 
child. ] 
Mary. Down in the west is the sun — 
Day is done. 
Come to the tamarask tree, 

Love with me; 
Or to the oHve and vine, 
Heart of mine. 

Out of the night steals a star 

Faint and far ; 
Soft from a field of the south, 

To my mouth 
Flutters a little, white dove, 

Oh my Love! 



lyj. THE MAN OF KKRIOTH 

l^She leaps lightly from the olive press to the 
road and wanders down to front, gathering 
the berries that hang abundantly on the 
bushes. The disciples return from the road 
at right. They are unaware of Mary, who 
now sits among the bushes with the berries 
in her lap, which she strings on a straw, 
using a thorn from an acacia bush for a 
needle. 1 
Thomas [looliing through the gate^. 

A company of soldiers ! 
Philip [joining him^. 

In the garden? 
The Lame Man. And Jesus prisoner ! 
Philip. We have no swords ! 

Thomas. Simon had two, but what are they 
against 
A cohort.'' 
Philip. Hence, find Judas ! I will go 

Within the garden — gather all you can 
That we may set him free ! 
[_Up the path of the garden Simon runs wildly 
toward the gate.^ 

Lo, Simon comes. 
Simon {^sobbing^. 

Woe! Woe! 
Philip [^staying him as he reaches the gate^. 

Simon ! 
Simon. The beauty of the Lord 

Is broken on a kiss 1 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 135 

Philip. Simon ! Simon ! 

Simon. Judas betrayed the Master with a kiss! 
Philip. Judas — he who has loved the Master so.'' 
Simon. I smote a servant with my ready sword, 

But Jesus bade me sheathe it at my side — 

What can one do with such a Master.'' 
Mocking Voices [m the garden^. 

Hail ! 
Philip [as the torches begin to flash among the 
trees^. 

Hither they come ! 
Simon. Haste to Jerusalem ! 

Mocking Voices. All hail, King of the Jews ! 
Thomas. Come, gather swords 

In thousands from the people who adore. 
Philip [as they go out at right^. 

The people? ay, the people who adore 

And love the Master ; they will rise forthwith — 

A hurricane of flame upon the host ! 

[They disappear — the Lame Man bravely fol- 
lowing mith laborious steps on crutches.^ 
The Lame Man. Oh, that these crutches were a 
flank of spears 

Levelled to save the Master from this thing! 

[He is lost among the trees.'\ 
Voices [with nearing sound of many feet^. 

All hail, King of the Jews ! 
Voice of Judas [in an agony of pleading']. 

Now — now — the sign ! 

[The soldiers appear with lifted torches and in 



136 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

their midst Jesus walks — his wrists manacled 
before him; as they adimnce and turn to the 
right, Judas in wild ana:iety walks at the left 
flank of the company with imploring hands 
outstretched to Jesus'\. 
Judas. O Master — Master — O my IMastcr — now ! 
[The crowd of mockers, jeering, behind the sol- 
diers, with pointing hands at Jesus.^ 
Crowd. He is a master! 

Ay, a very King! 
Hail, King of the Jews ! 

Where is your crown? 
We'll make him one of thorns ! 
Judas [as they near the bend of the road'\. 

Now lift your hand 
And let these know Messias in their midst I 
[They begin to disappear among the trees — 
the torches* flare fading to a twinkling flame 
and the jeering voices dying down to a mur- 
mur of mocker y.'\ 
Voices. King of the Jews — King of the Jews — 

King of 

Mary [sitting in the moonlight, looks up from 
counting her berries and listens to the fading 
voices from the wood, then with a little low, 
sad voice sings^. 

There was a king 

(Long, long ago) 

With robe and ring, 

(Long, long ago) 



THE MAN OF KERIOTH 137 

And when he smiled, 
A little child 
Put forth his hand 
And gave command, 
(Long, long ago). 

\^As the lights are lost among the trees, she rises 
with a lace of red berries about her neck and 
goes towards the gate, where she stands look- 
ing in.^ 
I like a garden, for they say that God 
Plays with boy angels, as he used to do 
When flowers grew in Eden long ago ! 
\^She stands within the gate, leaning her head 
against the right pillar and looking away 
toward left — the moon shines full on her 
face. Crazed by utter grief, Judas return^ 
down the road, unloosing the girdle about his 
waist. ^ 
Judas. My God ! My God ; he would not speak to 
me — 
And they will hang him high on Golgotha! 
Mary [^softly singing^. 

There was a King 

(Long, long ago) 
With robe and ring, 

(Long, long ago) 

Judas. O Master ! Master ! I will hang with you. 
[He leaps upon the olive press and climbs the 



138 THE MAN OF KERIOTH 

tree behind it and is lost to view among its 
heavy foliage.^ 
Mary [singingl. 

And when he smiled, 
A little child 
Put forth his hand 
And gave command 
(Long, long ago). 

[With a breaking cry, Judas falls to the olive 
press, where he lies with outstretched, life- 
less arms and upturned face. Mary, startled 
by the sound, turns and looks at the dead 
body. Slowly, with widening eyes, she ap- 
proaches the press. She puts forth her hand 
and at the touch her reason is restored under 
the stress of emotion.^ 
Mary \^with rush of tears and choking cries'\. 
Jesus ! — Judas ! 



